Save Me
by Wicked Tenshi
Summary: A.U. When a deadly shooting leaves Usagi Tsukino on the run from New York's most powerful mob boss, how will she cope with the situation? Who will save her? Heero Yuy just might. But he's on the mob's payroll. So does that mean he can be trusted? Usagi seems to think so. And just maybe she can save him from a faith worse than her own.
1. Never Walk Alone

**Author's Note:** Hi guys. _Reunited Love_ is finished and done with, so I thought I'd come back to this story. This chapter and the following have been revised, but nothing too drastic has changed. I've also decided to change the name of this fic, as well. I really didn't like the old one and I hope you won't mind. R&R

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Save Me_

Chapter 1: Never Walk Alone

_By :Wicked Tenshi

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It was a cold January night; the sky was as black as it could be, with no stars or clouds. The snow on the ground from the other day's snow storm was turning into slush, leaving the ground messy. Steam was rising from manholes on the streets, giving the area an eerie feel. There were hardly any cars passing by on the streets, no sign of life, as Usagi made her way home from her late night job. She shivered as a light breeze swept past her and pulled the collar of her coat higher to, possibly and somehow, prevent the bitter cold from touching the skin of her neck.

She'd thought about getting a car, but that would only strain her budget more, and she couldn't afford to do so. Her mother, Ikuko, was counting on her to help support her with the bills and debts her father had left behind. Taking the bus and then walking a few blocks would have to suffice for now. But getting out of work at four in the morning was dangerous, but unfortunately for her, she had no alternatives. Working at a night club in the down town area had its perks but getting out at late hours was not one of them. Her friend, Minako, had gotten her a job at one of her father's many clubs, and it had been a God send to be working for more than what her last job offered.

Usagi's mother had of course objected to her daughter working so late, let alone at a night club, but it couldn't be helped. Their family of two needed to survive somehow and badly. Ikuko being in a weakened state was also what drove Usagi to make the job choice.

Her father had been a part of a gang, which unfortunately for his family meant that they would always be collateral. Because of his life style, their lives had always been filled with violence. Even at as a child Usagi could remember her father's vile temper.

But now that he was gone, they were left with his baggage, paying back his debts before it was lights out, for her and her mother. The Boss, as Usagi had come to know him, was a man not to be trifled with. He was dangerous and lusted after power. He was a shark, he was dreadful, and he had a thing for Usagi, which was why she probably wasn't lying in a gutter somewhere yet because they hadn't paid up.

But as she walked towards the bus stop, the feeling of being followed nagged at Usagi. True, most nights after finishing work, she would get this same feeling, but for some reason tonight felt different, more unnerving.

She was used to being tailed by The Boss' men, to make sure she didn't leave the city, and most of the times the men who followed her never bothered her or made themselves known. But she began to get a sickening feeling deep in her gut. Something wasn't right, her instincts were yelling.

Quickening her pace, Usagi willed her feet, encased in three inch heeled pumps, to go faster. The bus stop was just around the corner and she could see a bus heading her way.

Casting a quick glance over her shoulder, Usagi looked behind her. Nothing. No one was behind her nor was anyone passing by. She turned back around knowing that the turn was coming up, but as she did so, she slammed into someone and an ear piercing scream escaped her lips.

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Author's Note:** Okay, I did some editing; took some stuff out, added things and changed some details. Hopefully you aren't confused about anything, if you are, you know what to do: review or email :) Thanks guys!!

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	2. Strange Figures

**Author's Note: **Hi guys! This chapter too has been revised. Hope you enjoy! R&R

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Save Me_

Chapter 2: Strange Figures

By: Wicked Tenshi

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Hands reached out to grab her, one going over her mouth to stop her screams. Her heart beat accelerated, panic building within her.

"Shh!" the person holding her commanded.

Usagi whimpered, complying with her attacker.

"Good," the person said, and then to Usagi's surprise, released her.

The person stepped back into the glow of the street light, causing their features to be illuminated. Usagi's eyes widened in shock and relief as she recognized her attacker. Only it was not someone who would ever attack her. It was her boyfriend!

"Mamoru!" she yelled in disbelief.

He just grinned at her. "Scared you didn't I?" he teased.

Why was he here? Usagi thought. He was not the presence that she had felt, the sickening one. She was puzzled at this, but pushed the peculiar thought to the back of mind. She, did however, feel much safer that he was with her now. Maybe that nagging feeling as if she were being followed by something sinister, would go away.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she walked over to him and gave him a tight hug, thanking God it was only him and not someone else.

"God, you scared me to death," she scolded, breathless.

"Yeah well, I'm sorry" he said still grinning, moving in for a kiss. They shared a quick but passionate kiss, and smiled at each other when they broke apart from their lip lock.

"What are you doing here?" Usagi asked him, sighing when she saw that she missed the bus.

"Can't a guy come to meet his girlfriend?" Mamoru asked instead.

Usagi gave him a weird look. Mamoru never came to see her after work.

"Sure" she said instead.

"Besides, I had this weird feeling," he told her.

"Aw, how cute. You came to protect me" she teased.

He just smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders. She smiled up at him, but the smile flattered and was gone completely from her beautiful face when her gaze fell upon the sight in front of them.

Mamoru noticed the figures lurking in the shadows a few feet ahead of them, as well. He stopped them and looked around quickly for another path for them to take, but found none. Their only choice was to go forward.

They slowly started to walk again, for they were not sure of what was going to happen. As the pair walked, the figures did not seem to move but did acknowledge their presence.

Mamoru's hold around Usagi's shoulders tightened. She looked up at him with frightened and puzzled eyes. He nodded at her and decided that they should pick up the pace. He took long strides dragging a scared Usagi along with him. Her grip on his shirt increased tremendously. One could tell from only looking, that she would dare not let go until this whole ordeal was over.

As the couple began to approach the figures they seem to whisper among themselves. The figures began moving to form a pattern, a pattern that strangely resembled a straight line in front of them.

Usagi inhaled sharply. Looking at the three men who stood not too far from them, she knew that they weren't going to be friendly. The vibes that they were radiating made her heart accelerate with fear and pumped adrenaline into her system.

_Figures_

The four men had been chosen to take care of some business that had to be settled with the man before them. Well, actually it was the boss's business. They were only carrying out the dirty work. They had no clue as to what the man in front of them had done to the boss, but they knew that the boss was really angry, and when the boss was angry, there was no telling of what he would do. In short, they were terrified of the man. They had no say in the matter. Who the boss said had to be rid of, had to be rid of. So, here they were, on the lonely streets about to converge on their victim.

The plan had been easy. Three of them would approach Mamoru Chiba, while another would stay in the protection of the shadows to watch, and act as an element of surprise if something unexpected were to happen. But there was a complication. They had not anticipated Chiba having any sort of company, let alone a woman.

When the boss had given them instruction on the hit and a picture of the target, they had traced the man for a few days before forming a concrete plan. But they had not factored in a bystander into their plan, however. The leader of their four man group, however, told them to go ahead and stick to the plan. He would take care of the 'complication', stressing that he did not want the boss to get angry and then take his temper out on them.

_Mamoru_

'There should be four of them. Where is the fourth?' his mind screamed. He had not been ignorant to the fact that there had been four men following him for the last few days. But now, one was missing and his mind began to race with possibilities.

_Usagi_

Once again Usagi's mind was screaming for her to get the hell out of there that these men were dangerous, but there was nothing she could do. They were outnumbered and these men probably had weapons on their persons. The strange feelings she felt earlier came back to her.

'This was it! I should have known' she mentally yelled at herself for not heeding the signs more carefully. She prayed silently to God that nothing terrible would happen to her or Mamoru. And as if God was listening and watching out for her, part of her prayer would come true, for there so happened to be a traitor within the group...

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Author's Note:** Hope you guys enjoyed. I'll try to have another chapter up soon! :)


	3. The Hit

**Author's Note:** Hi everyone! This is my first update since… August 4, 2005 which is kind of sad, to say the least. I've also renamed the fic to _Save Me_. And if you haven't noticed, I've edited the first two chapters. You might want to reread them if you've read them way back when, but not much has changed… Hope you enjoy!

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Save Me_

Chapter 3: The Hit

By: Wicked Tenshi**_

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With a lack of expression on his face, Heero watched from the shadows, as Max, Jacob, and Frank approached their target. He was pretty sure that this Chiba guy had caught onto them by now. He knew the man was not that dense if he had dealings with The Boss. Heero scoffed at the thought of 'The Boss'. He couldn't stand the man, he was pompous and pathetic. Heero couldn't believe how a numskull like him could come to be one of the most dangerous men in New York. He figured it had to do with the hierarchy system in place.

Heero sighed quietly into the darkness. Doing things like hits, was starting to get to him lately. He didn't know how much more death he could handle before his psyche snapped. But he was on a mission and failing wasn't an option, so he focused on the task at hand, pushing all other thoughts from his mind, he could examine them later.

_Usagi & Mamoru_

"What do you want?" Mamoru called out to the men who stopped in their path.

"Just you, Chiba" one of them replied snidely.

Usagi gasped. How do these men know Mamoru? She thought. Something clearly wasn't right and somehow she knew that Mamoru knew these men as well. Why else would they have singled them out?

Desperate, Mamoru pulled Usagi in front of him, thinking that they wouldn't hurt her to get to him. He of course knew what this was all about. He owed their boss a substantial amount of money and he couldn't pay it back. He had lost all of it due to his addiction to gambling. But he was sorely regretting that decision right now as he looked at his possible demise.

The men in front of him didn't seem swayed by the fact that Mamoru was using a woman as a shield and proceeded to pull out their guns. The man in the center, Max, leveled the barrel of his gun with Mamoru's head, while the other two had theirs trained on the ground, ready to spring into action at any moment.

"You can either make this easy for us or harder for you," the one in the center said. "It's your choice. Do you want to die slowly and painfully or quickly?"

Usagi heard Mamoru swear. She was still however in shock that he had pulled her in front of him as a shield. She would have expected him to push her behind him not in front of his sorry ass. If she wasn't so scared, she would have been pissed as hell. What kind of man was he? She started to realize.

Heero had not anticipated the man to pull the female in front of him. He just thought of Chiba as a real class A jackass, a coward and didn't feel so bad about him dying. Men like him did not deserve to live if they could not protect the innocent instead of fending for themselves, they were weak.

Heero also had not anticipated Max crumbling to the ground, the echo of a gun, and screaming. His body stiffened as he saw blood swirling around Max's form, slowly covering the side walk. His eyes immediately went back to Chiba. Had he underestimated him? No, Chiba was just acting out of fear and desperation. The female however, had her eyes closed, with her hands covering her ears, clearly terrified as she screamed.

Suddenly, a wave of emotion washed over him. Her terrified expression chilled his heart. He always preached about keeping the innocent safe, but was he really doing that in exposing this woman to danger? He didn't think so. She seemed so vulnerable, he just wanted to take her into his arms and keep her safe, tell her everything was going to be alright. Instead, he shook those feelings off and quickly thought of a plan.

But before he could formulate a plan, another shot rang out and another scream sounded. His eyes widened a fraction a Chiba crumpled to the ground. The woman's eyes bugging out as she looked at her dead boyfriend. Heero thought it was time to emerge from the shadows.

"What the hell was that about?" Heero asked in a deadly voice that clearly said he was angry.

Frank just looked at him incredulously. "Are you fucking serious? He shot Max!"

"Max was an idiot," Heero said. "And that was not part of the plan."

"Fuck the plan! Max is dead!" Frank said looking at Max's prone body.

Out of the corner of his eye Heero saw the woman slowly backing away, shaking her head in disbelief.

He leveled his eyes at Frank and Jacob. "Get this messed cleaned up. NOW."

Jacob gulped clearly afraid of Heero. He hadn't moved up the ranks so quickly for nothing. He shoved Frank and the two men got into action. As Frank left for the van, parked a block away, Jacob turned to Heero.

"What are you going to do about her?" he asked.

"Leave her to me," Heero said. "I'll take care of her. Just hurry the hell up here before the cops show up."

Jacob nodded and turned back to the bodies.

"Shit," Heero muttered under his breath. Things had definitely not gone according to plan. No one was supposed to die here. Chiba would have been hauled into a van and driven to an undisclosed location, where they could leave no evidence. But now there was more evidence than they could deal with.

He turned to the female, feeling sorry for her. She had probably never witnessed anyone being shot to death, and seeing two in a row in less than two minutes apart was probably messing with her mind. He approached her slowly. Her wild eyes turned towards him, clearly getting afraid again. His breath caught however, and he stopped his advanced. She was a beauty. Drop dead gorgeous, and her scared expression was like a blow to his heart. He made a slit second decision.

Heero strode over to her with a few steps, and stopped in front of her. He only had a few seconds before Frank got back.

"Run" he whispered to her.

He had clearly caught her off guard.

"Run," he said again. "Go now. I'll give you two seconds before I come after you."

Usagi was clearly at a loss as to what to do. She looked at him oddly. Was he telling her to escape or was he just playing with her before he killed her too? But nevertheless she ran, but not before kicking him in the shin.

"Shit!" he cursed aloud for Jacob's benefit.

"Fuck! She's getting away," Jacob cursed and started to go after her.

"No" Heero stopped him, grabbing him by the arm. "I'll get her. Just help Frank."

"What are you going to do to her?" Jacob asked.

"Kill her of course," Heero deadpanned, looking at Jacob as if there wasn't any other choice. "She's seen too much."

Jacob nodded and Heero took off after the woman. She was already down the block, about to turn the corner. He could easily catch up with her.

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**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading! What do you think?


	4. Escape

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the late update! And THANKS to everyone who reviewed! It really means a lot! Enjoy! :)

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Save Me_

Chapter 4: Escape

_By:Wicked Tenshi

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Running in heels was not in any way an advantage. They were a death trap. How could any woman ever out run her attacker in them? Usagi didn't dare stop though. She kept going, her breath coming out in puffs in front of her. She was about to round the corner when she heard footsteps rapidly approaching her.

Adrenaline pumped into her system, pushing her legs to go faster. She raced down the street, running faster than she ever had in her life. This couldn't be happening! her mind tried to deny. But the facts and evidence were everywhere around her. She had seen Mamoru shoot a man and gotten shot in return. She had no doubt whatsoever that they were both now dead. As for the man chasing her, she knew she couldn't trust him either.

An automatic scream burst forth from her as someone grabbed her from behind and shoved her up against a wall, clamping a hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened in fear, as she recognized the man who had told her to run.

"I won't hurt you," he said. "But you have to listen to me."

She whimpered in response. Was he for real? Everything about him seemed to scream danger. She could tell he was more dangerous and lethal than the other three. It was in his looks as well. But she had not anticipated on him being so handsome. It knocked her equilibrium off balance. But she quickly collected herself as best as she could. She couldn't be thinking about things that didn't involve her survival.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he repeated. And when she nodded her head he removed the hand that covered her mouth.

Heero regarded her, ready to clamp her mouth shut if she tried to scream again, but she didn't. She was just looking at him with a mixture of fear and curiosity. He stealthily snuck his head out and watched around the corner. Both Frank and Jacob were occupied with moving the bodies, putting them in the van.

Heero turned back to the woman he had pressed against the wall.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked, fear lacing her words.

Heero was quiet for a while, contemplating his next course of action. But then suddenly he recognized the woman in front of him. He had seen her before.

"Usagi, right?" he asked, hoping he had her name right.

He saw her eyes widened yet again. "How do you know my name?" she asked.

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter." Heero told her. "I'm going to let you go. But you can't go home."

"Why not?" Usagi asked, still shocked that he knew her.

"Because it's not safe. Those men will come after your mother because they know who you are."

"My mother? But I can't leave her!"

"Shh!" Heero commanded, looking over to Frank and Jacob quickly. "Keep your voice down," he instructed, satisfied that neither men had heard her.

"But I can't just leave her," Usagi reasoned. "They'll kill her."

Heero bent his head, trying to figure out what to do. He pushed away from her, but grabbed her hand instead. He pulled out a pen and wrote something on her hand.

"Go to this address. Tell them Heero sent you. I'll take care of your mother—"

"How do I know I can trust you?" Usagi asked skeptically.

"You'll just have to if you want to stay alive," he replied levelly, looking into her eyes.

By returning his stare, Usagi could immediately tell that she could trust him. His eyes were clear with honesty, hypnotizing her a little even.

"Thank you," she told him sincerely, quickly looking over the address on her hand. It was in the suburbs.

Heero nodded. "I'm going to let you go now. Run as fast as you can to get away from here."

Usagi nodded and on impulse hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered, before releasing him. She then took her shoes off and began to run at full speed, glancing back only once as she rounded a corner.

Heero was stunned for the space of five seconds before he pulled himself together and walked back to the other men.

"Where is she?" Frank asked.

Heero noticed that they had moved the bodies and had managed to wash away some of the blood.

"She got away," he told them, voice flat.

"How the hell did you manage that?" Frank asked sarcastically.

With the look Heero shot him, Frank immediately shut up. "Ran into traffic," he lied. "Besides if you were paying attention, you would have noticed she's that girl the boss is always after."

"No fucking kidding," Jacob muttered in surprise.

"This changes everything," Frank pointed out.

"Hn," was Heero's only answer.

"Look out Jacob, he's gonna go all quiet on us any minute now," Frank joked, jabbing Jacob in the side.

The look Heero gave him sent a chill down his spine. If only looks could kill.

"What do we do now?" Jacob asked looking at Heero nervously.

"You two dump the bodies and I'll talk to the boss," Heero replied.

Jacob and Frank nodded.

"And try not to screw anything up," Heero instructed before walking off.

Frank and Jacob watched as he left.

Shaking his head, Frank said, "Let's go."

The two left. Speeding off to the original place where they were supposed to give Chiba the hit.

_Usagi_

Usagi had run almost ten blocks before she decided to stop and hail a cab that was coming her way. She sighed in relief when the cabbie pulled over.

"Where to hon?" the driver asked, looking at her through the rear view mirror.

She glanced at the address written on her hand and relayed it to the driver. Before long they were driving, leaving city limits. As the cab got farther and farther from that dreadful place, Usagi began to relax more and more. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She was surprised she wasn't going into shock, but perhaps that would occur later. Crying was also not an option, not if she didn't want the cab driver to get suspicious and start to ask questions. Going to the police would also be no help. It would only serve in having Blake coming after her and her mother even worse to know that she had ratted on him.

The damn asshole was always after her since her dad had dragged him into their lives. Being the stupid head honcho of some gang made him think he was invincible, and he was, he had just proven that tonight. Usagi just wanted to curl up into a ball and hide under a rock, anything to get away from this life. She was miserable. Maybe she should have asked that guy, what was his name? Heero, to kill her, maybe then she would be somewhere better. She quickly got rid of that train of thought. Who would take care of mother then? She asked herself.

With the thought of her mother, she wondered if that guy would do as he had promised to keep her safe. The only thing she could do at this point, she reasoned, was to trust in him. Negative thoughts, like how he knew about her and her mother, were not going to help. So closing her eyes, Usagi let the slight swaying motion of the car calm her down; trying to will away the terrible things she had been a witness to. She reckoned the turn in this day's events would change her life forever.

_Heero_

Heero swiftly rounded the corner, hood covering his head just in case Blake still had guys shadowing the Tsukino house. He gave the area a once over and satisfied that there was no one around, he walked up to the house and pressed the door bell.

"Heero!" A woman exclaimed in surprise when she opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"There's no time to explain Mrs. Tsukino, we have to leave now. You're not safe here," Heero told the older woman, sweeping his eyes constantly around for any sign of danger.

"But I can't leave, Usagi isn't home yet!" Mrs. Tsukino replied. She couldn't just leave and not take her daughter with her!

"She's safe," Heero reassured her. "Remember that bag I told you to have ready in case of anything? I need you to get it, now."

Ikuko regarded the man in front of her silently for a few moments before hurrying off to get what he asked for. She would not dispute his words that Usagi was safe and she wasn't, for she trusted him one hundred percent. But what she didn't understand was how a person so well mannered and kind could ever be in Blake's gang. Most of the men that came to rough her up for money were always rude and unpleasant.

Ikuko was back in less than five minutes with the bag and jacket. Heero took the bag from her and locked the door behind them. He ushered her forward and around the corner to where his car was parked. He only had a certain amount of time before Blake's men came around to ask where Usagi was. Of course he had had to call Blake and let him know what had gone down; he couldn't have risked not telling him.

Once in the car, Heero sped away, heading to where he had instructed Usagi to go.

_Usagi_

The cab pulled up at the gate of a sprawling mansion or what looked like a mansion. She had never seen a house this huge in New York before. But she reasoned since she was no longer in the heart of the city, it was possible.

"This is it miss," the driver informed her.

"Thank you," she told him and handed over some money, not bothering to wait for her change.

The cab driver drove away, and suddenly Usagi grew nervous. She twisted her hands as she surveyed the area, looking for a sign of entry where she couldn't have to climb over the gate. She walked up closer to the gate, wanting to get out of the dark, and spotted a monitor attached to the wall. Hesitantly, Usagi pressed the intercom button. A voice buzzed over through it followed by the face of a man with a beard.

"Winner residence, how may I help you?" asked the man.

"Um," Usagi mumbled unsure of herself. "I was sent here by Heero."

The man's face registered surprise. "Mr. Yuy told you to come here?" He asked suspiciously.

"Um, yeah," she replied glancing around. Was that even the guy's last name? And more importantly, was he going let her in or not? It was freezing!

"Are you in some kind of trouble?" He questioned quirking an eyebrow.

Usagi looked at him sheepishly. "Yea, kinda," she grinned despite herself and situation.

The man unexpectedly grinned back at her. "Well, come on in then!"

Usagi thought the man a little odd, but gave it no further thought as the iron gates began to open. She made her way up the gravel path, pushing her numb legs to climb the slight slope that led to the house/mansion. It took her about five minutes to get there and she when she did, she was out of breath.

The door swung open before she even got the chance to ring the door bell. 'I guess they already knew I was coming' she sweatdropped.

"Hello," a man greeted, regarding her with a curious expression on his handsome face.

"Hi," Usagi replied breathlessly. "Just gimme a minute to catch my breath, I just climbed a miniature mountain."

The man's expression turned to one of amusement. "Sure," he replied, a smile on his lips. "But why don't you come in? You must be freezing."

"Thank you," Usagi answered. The man stepped aside and she made her way in, closing the door behind her. If the outside had appalled her, the inside of the house was more awe inspiring. It looked like one of those pictures that came from a fancy home décor magazine. She gaped at her surroundings, her mouth one step away from falling to the floor.

"Are you okay?" the man asked, worry crossing his face.

Usagi quickly collected herself. "Yeah. Sure," she said. But on the inside she was envious. In her dreams she imagined herself living in such an elegant house, but in reality, her house only had two bedrooms, where this one might have had a fifty times that amount.

"May I?" the man whose name she still hadn't got asked, gesturing to her coat. Maybe he was the help? She doubted it, he wasn't dressed like any help she had ever seen, and he sure as hell didn't look like help. He looked too suave to have ever touched a broom in his life.

"Thanks," she said, handing over the coat. The help had arrived then and took the coat from her. The woman melted away just as quietly as she had appeared.

"Nice place," Usagi said as she took in the soft creams and warm browns that furnished the room, this time with her mouth closed.

"Thank you," the man said, still regarding her with amusement.

'I should probably introduce myself,' Usagi thought nervously.

"Where are my manners," she said, "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Usagi Tsukino." She reached out her hand for a shake.

"Quatra Winner," replied the man taking her hand and shaking it, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Usagi smiled, taking him in for the first time. He was tall with a good lean build. He also had platinum blond hair and kind blue eyes. His clothes were no doubt designer made, but the genteel sort of air hanging around him seemed like all his own.

"You must be wondering why some random female has shown up at your house at this hour, huh?" Usagi asked dryly.

"I already know why you're here," Quatra smiled. "But I must say they are under most unfortunate circumstances," he finished losing his mirth.

Usagi's eyes watered for the first time since she had seen death, but she willed herself not to cry in front of this stranger.

"Most unfortunate," Usagi agreed. "But I don't know why I was sent here. He just—he just said that I should come here, that I would be safe…" she trailed off, swallowing.

"And you will be safe here," Quatra replied gently. "Heero would not have sent you here if he did not think you weren't going to be safe. He also wouldn't have sent you here if you weren't in great danger as well," he finished solemnly.

Usagi gulped. "I guess—I guess so. I just witnessed some things that would put me in danger."

Quatra nodded. "You need not worry however. When Heero gets here, everything will be sorted out."

"But how can I know if I can trust you people? I don't mean to sound ungrateful or brash, but can you see where I'm coming from?" Usagi implored, face full of emotion.

"I understand, and I'm sure if I were in your position that I would question us too, but trust me when I say this, we are friends not foes," Quatra told her.

'Friends not foes' Usagi thought. What did that mean? Of course it meant they meant no harm to her but she couldn't help feel that there was deeper meaning there. Why would he use such word choices? She shrugged it off.

"I don't know what to say," Usagi told him. "But I believe I can trust you," she smiled slightly.

"Good," Quatra nodded. "Now, _I_ believe that you could do with a nice warm shower and something to eat," he said smiling encouragingly.

"Oh God, that sounds great!" Usagi exclaimed happily.

Quatra chuckled. He was pretty sure he had never encountered someone such as the woman before him. She was so emotional, one minute she was witty and all smiles and the next she was apprehensive and insecure.

"Right this way," Quatra instructed and began to lead her to the wide marble staircase that led to the second floor.

Usagi followed Quatra up the stairs, hands trailing lightly on the iron banister, admiring how the marble stairs contrasted with the room down below, providing a nice touch. She sighed wistfully.

She was led to a wood paneled door, which Quatra proceeded to open. He showed her in, and once again Usagi was in awe. There was an intricately designed wooden four poster bed in the middle of the room, covered in the softest looking cream silk sheets she'd ever. Looking past the bed, a wardrobe rested against the wall with bedside tables on both sides of the bed, with a vanity and stool to match a ways in front of the large bed. She could tell that there was also a veranda, for there were glass doors.

Quatra motioned to a door within the room. "This door leads to the bathroom," he said. "I trust that you will find everything you need. I'll send my housekeeper up in an hour or so to make sure that you are settled. And when Heero arrives you shall also be informed."

"Thank you," Usagi replied sincerely. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had ever been so kind to her, excluding her mother. "This is really," she gestured around her, "too much."

"You are welcome. And I will not have a guest of mine settle for less," he told her with a kind smile.

And with the nod of her head, he left the room, closing the door gently behind her. Usagi looked around her one more time and gave a little hop of excitement, momentarily too enthralled by her surroundings to mope. She rushed off to the bathroom and was yet again brought to a standstill. It was all shiny marble and golden surfaces! She squealed in delight and immediately began filling the tub up with warm water. She had an hour before anyone came to check on her, and she would spend it trying to unwind. She had to get her head together for when she faced that man from earlier tonight again. She had to come up with some kind of plan and figure out what the hell would happen after this.

She walked over to the huge mirror over the sink and looked at herself. She grimaced. She looked dreadful. Her eyeliner was running, her face was blotchy, not to mention her hair was in a state of disarray. She groaned. She looked like yesterday's trash compared to Quatra.

"Whatever," she grumbled and turned away, stripping off her clothes.

She added some bath salt to the water which immediately turned opaque. She climbed into the inviting water and sank down to her neck, a sigh escaping her lips.

"Hmm," she murmured, threading her hands in the water. "Why couldn't my life be like this every day?" she asked aloud to no one in particular. But she knew the answer. It was because of her father. Before he had joined that stupid gang they had had a good life, private school, two cars and a big house, the works. Then everything went downhill after he met Blake at one of the many parties they used to host. Debts started to pile up and her mother started to ask questions; her father always refusing to answer them. By then they had been too far gone, with no money. They'd had to sell the house and cars, and she had had to go to public school as her parents tried to right their life again. But sadly that had not happened. Men started to come after them and then her father had been killed. She couldn't say she hated him entirely, but she hated what he had done to their happy family, especially hated the toll it had taken on her precious mother. She sighed. She knew she loved her father very much but she didn't know why, he had wronged them. She sighed. Thinking about the past always made her extremely sad. She sank lower into the tub. Bringing her fingers out of the tub, she saw that they were starting to get prune-y. How long exactly had she been in there? The time had flown by as she had thought about the past. Getting out, she pulled the stopper out letting the way flow out. She walked over to the stand up shower and scrubbed every inch of her slim body, washing her hair at the very last.

Toweling herself dry, she opened the door that led back into the room and found toiletries on the dresser along with clean sleepwear and undies.

"Huh," she said before picking them up and heading back to the bathroom. Putting on the clothes she marveled at the material. The white chiffon chemise felt really good against her skin, even though it was worthy of lingerie status. She was however comforted by the fact that it came with a robe, which she promptly put on. But she couldn't for the life of her quite figure out how they knew her bra size though and she refused to believe that Quatra had been checking her out or that he had much experience with woman, even though she knew the latter was highly possible. But she shrugged those thoughts off. She was just glad to be in clean clothes and have all the sweat from her body gone.

Usagi gave a little yawn before returning back to the room and to where she had spotted a blow dryer on the vanity. Sitting on the stool, she turned it on and swiftly began to dry her hair. She had recently cut it to mid back, where as it had be waist length before. She found it much easier to handle as well. And she had to admit that her sun-kissed hair was one of her best features, next to her big azure eyes and spanking hot body. She giggled at that thought. She knew she wasn't vain but she couldn't help admire herself sometimes. Dressing up was her favorite thing to do, but since money was tight it had become a luxury. She sighed. How different her life would be…

A knock on the door interrupted Usagi's thoughts. She turned off the blow dryer and called "Come in!"

What she presumed as Quatra's housekeeper opened the door and walked in. She was a middle age woman, was gentle curves and a kind face.

"Hello dear," she addressed Usagi, "I'm Alma. How are you?"

"Hello Alma," Usagi smiled. "I'm Usagi. I'm doing well, thank you."

Alma beamed. "Such manners!"

Usagi chuckled at the elder woman.

"Did you find everything you needed?" Alma asked, taking her in.

Usagi nodded. "Yes. Thank you very much. It must have been a hassle to find some clothes for me."

"Oh no, no not at all! Master Quatra just has to snap his fingers and things just appear," Alma said waving it off. "Not literally of course! He has lots of resources so it's no hassle at all! He's such a fine man, really, really nice, don't you think?" Alma chatted, picking up Usagi's clothes, and dropping them into a basket.

"Yes. Really nice," Usagi agreed. "Are you going to wash those?"

"Yes, yes. You'll have them back in a jiffy!"Alma told her. "Now, you must be hungry."

Usagi's stomach had been growling for the past ten minutes, she was famished. She blushed sheepishly. "Yep. Famished in fact!"

"Well don't you worry! Stan is making something delicious for you as we speak," Alma gushed. "What a cook he is! There's nothing he can't cook!"

Usagi couldn't hold it in anymore, so she let out the giggle she was keeping in. Alma was such a delightful character!

"What's so funny my dear?" Alma asked her picking up the basket.

"Oh, nothing. I just decided I like you is all," Usagi ginned.

Alma gave an answering grin of her own before whisking Usagi's clothes away to wash, promising to be back with her food in no time.

"Oh no. If you tell me where the kitchen is I'll be more than happy to unburden you," Usagi suggested.

"It's no problem at all," Alma objected.

"No, no I insist! You've done so much already," Usagi reasoned.

"Well then, just go to the end of the hall in the opposite direction you came from and go down the stairs. The kitchen is through the first door on the right. Just follow your nose!" Alma told her before disappearing.

"Can't be too hard to find," Usagi decided before heading down the hall in search of kitchen.

She made her way down the stairs Alma had told her she would find, and as described the kitchen was on the right, she had however smelt it before she actually saw it. Alma was right, something smelled delicious. Usagi poked her head though the door.

"Are you Stan the cook?" She asked a man hovering over the stove.

The man turned around, spoon in hand, looking sleepy. "What if I am?" He asked.

"Then you'd be my favorite-est person in the whole world," she told him coming over to peek into the pot.

Stan chuckled. "Well then, anything to please a pretty lady."

"I think I like you already," Usagi beamed.

The man laughed outright. "You're not very hard to please, are you?"

"Not at all," she said but added thoughtfully, "But I guess it depends though."

"Here, why don't you try this?" He said filling a bowl with some sort of substance.

"This smells great!" Usagi gushed. "What is it?" She asked skeptically eyeing the bowl.

"Soup."

"Soup?"

"Yes, soup. You shouldn't be eating at this hour in the morning, so eating something light will be better," he explained.

"Well, soup it is."

Usagi made herself comfortable at the nearby table, planting her bowl on it, only pausing momentarily to say a short prayer.

"How does it taste?" Stan asked after a while.

Usagi looked up, spoon half poised next to her mouth, "Scrumptious! Alma was right, you are a good cook."

"Why thank you," Stan smiled.

"No, thank you. You must have been waken to prepare this for me, sorry to put you through all the trouble," Usagi told him earnestly.

Stan waved her thanks off. "It was no problem at all," he told her with a smile.

Usagi returned his smile and continued eating. Two bowls later she was full and heading back to her room. But on her way out, she heard voices coming down the hallway. She spotted Quatra and the guy who had told her to run, heading towards her direction, a woman walking behind them. She immediately recognized the woman.

"Mom!" she exclaimed, unable to hold back her shock.

Her outburst gained the attention of the three causing her mother to rush forward to greet her.

"Oh thank God you're safe!" her mother said, relief evident in her features. She took Usagi into her arms hugging her tightly. "Heero told me what happened, I just about died…"

"It's okay Mom. I'm fine now," Usagi reassured her mother not wanting to cause her more worry.

"I know, I know," Ikuko replied, letting go of her daughter. "All thanks to Heero," she said turning back to look at him fondly.

"Do you two know each other?" Usagi asked looking back and forth between the two.

"Yes," Ikuko replied, squeezing Heero's arm when he reached them.

"How?" Usagi asked.

"That's not important right now," Heero told her. "We need to decide what course of action should be taken now."

"What do you mean?" Usagi question confused. What did he mean, 'course of action'?

"Why don't we take this into my office?" Quatra suggested.

Heero nodded and left the others to follow.

Once settled, Usagi asked, "I don't get it. How does a hardened criminal know a man like you Mr. Winner?"

Heero's jaw twitched slightly at being called a 'hardened criminal'.

"Heero's not a crim—" Quatra began but was cut off by Heero.

"Look, you have two options," Heero said going to straight to the point. "You can either go under the witness protection program, or get on with your life as it is, hoping that Blake doesn't kill you. Your call."

"So, like there's no middle ground?" Usagi demanded. What kind of options were those?

"I can't go on protecting you," Heero told her.

"I'm not asking you to protect me," Usagi snapped.

"Usagi dear, please calm down, there's no need to yell at those who are trying to help us," Ikuko tried to reason with her daughter.

"Ma, please, trying to reason with a criminal is impossible. How do you even know if we can trust him?" Usagi countered glaring at Heero.

Usagi didn't know why she was being so hostile, but being around this man put her on high alert.

Heero sighed, looks like they weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Sweetheart, please try to be reasonable. Heero is just trying to help," Ikuko replied.

Usagi thought for a while, trying to figure something out. Instead she asked, "Why would you even suggest the witness protection program. Forget that, why did you even save me?"

"The witness protection program allows people in danger of others to cast a new identity and move elsewhere, where they can start a new life, free of those who are trying to harm them," Quatra answered saving Heero from revealing anything that would compromise him. He wasn't clueless as to what Heero did for a living…

She knew that both Heero and Quatra were hiding something from her, something important. She didn't know what it was yet however, so she played along with their witness protection scheme.

"A new life?" Usagi asked, looking at her mother.

Ikuko nodded.

"A new life sounds good," Usagi murmured.

"Then it's settled," Heero said, getting up.

Usagi's eyes however widened at what she saw peeking out of Heero's pants when his jacket shifted as he got up.

**

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Author's Note:** LOL! Tell me what you think! It's such a horrible place to leave you hanging, I know, but I just couldn't help myself! Sorry for any mistakes, I kind of rushed through this chapter so you could have something to read before I disappear for finals. Don't forget to REVIEW!


	5. Who Would’ve Thought?

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews! Here is the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!

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_Save Me_

Chapter 5: Who Would've Thought?

By: Wicked Tenshi

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"You're—you're a cop!" Usagi exclaimed as she eyed the badge that was attached to Heero's belt.

"What are you talking about?" Heero asked dryly.

Usagi pointed to his waist. "There! You can't deny that that is a police badge," she accused.

"This?" Heero asked raising an eyebrow pointing to the badge. "It's fake."

"Like hell it is!" Usagi retorted.

"Usagi! Watch your language," Ikuko scolded.

Usagi just nodded but kept on looking at Heero suspiciously.

"That's why you saved me, didn't you? Because you're a cop and it was the right thing to do," she said, all the pieces falling together in her head.

Glancing at Quatra he seemed kind of uneasy, which was saying something, considering he always seemed so composed. 'Maybe he's some kind of undercover cop…' she thought.

"You think I'm a cop?" Heero scoffed.

"I'm no fool. I want in," Usagi demanded.

Heero's jaw twitched. She was too close to the truth for her own good.

"'In'?" Heero asked, feigning confusion.

"I know what you are, you're an undercover cop or something and you're trying to crack down on Blake," Usagi said voicing her earlier thought, but she was shooting in the dark. She didn't exactly know what she was talking about; she just hoped she could get some kind of answer or even some kind of response from him. She hated being in the dark and especially lied to. But if Heero was truly a secret agent of some sort and was trying to get rid of Blake, then maybe she could help and exact a little of her own revenge as well.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Heero said getting up and walking over to her. "Maybe you're experiencing Post Traumatic Stress and its somehow messing with your brain," he said bending slightly to point a penlight into her eyes.

Usagi smacked his hand away and glared at him.

"Seems like a reasonable explanation," Quatra agreed.

Usagi glared at him too.

"Mom, don't you believe me?" Usagi asked her mother, with pleading eyes.

"I don't know what good it would do if I were to agree with you, sweetie," Ikuko answered softly. "I mean, so what if Heero is some kind of secret agent, what would that change?"

"But—I—"

"Heero! I got those police records you asked for—" A voice cut Usagi off.

A man with a long chestnut colored braid stepped into the room; his blue eyes going slightly wide as he realized he had interrupted something.

"See! I knew it!" Usagi hissed, standing up.

Quatra sighed into his hands, shaking his head.

"Nice timing, Duo," Quatra told him.

"Huh? What did I do?" Duo asked clueless.

"Nothing," Heero said, his voice dripping acid, with something akin to murder written in his eyes.

"Um, so yea, I'll just leave these here," Duo said placing some manila folders on top of Quatra's desk, "And leave."

Heero's mind churned. How could he save this situation without blowing his cover?

"Hey!" Usagi called to the man who had just interrupted them, "Wait!"

"Yea?" Duo asked; braid swaying slightly as he turned around.

"Are you a cop?" Usagi asked.

Duo shot Heero a look. What was he supposed to say to that?

"Do I look like a cop?" Duo asked instead.

_Was that a trick question?_ Usagi thought. He didn't look like any cop she'd ever seen; he was too young for one. But what did she know?

"Yes, unless Quatra is some kind of thug boss who's running some kind of underground smuggling operation and is housing criminals," Usagi said instead, hoping that she would get some kind of answer if she took that path.

"Those are some kind of options," Duo muttered.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but you have to make a choice," Heero cut her off before she could make another smart-ass comment.

"Well, I choose to help you," Usagi said simply turning around to look at him.

_Good God, she's so stubborn_, Heero thought. And for once in his life he didn't know how to find a solution to this.

"By 'help' you mean what exactly?" Heero asked, hoping to stall until he could think of something.

"It's no use Heero, she'll just find another way to outsmart you," a voice interrupted, one Usagi recognized.

"Alex?" Usagi gasped, looking at the tall young man, bangs covering an emerald eye as always. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, so she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again hoping she wasn't going crazy and wasn't seeing and hearing a ghost.

But 'Alex' nodded at her.

"I thought you were dead…" Usagi whispered trailing off.

"It was a cover and the name is Trowa," Trowa told her pushing off of the door jam, walking into the room.

"A cover?" Usagi asked speechless, still staring.

"Yes, much like what Heero is doing, he hasn't had to kill himself yet though," Trowa explained with a small smile.

"What a shebang this is turning out to be…" Duo muttered dropping himself onto the leather couch in the room.

"So you mean, I was _right_?" Usagi asked in disbelief.

Trowa nodded his head gravely.

"Jesus…" Usagi muttered, reality hitting her like a ten ton brick. What exactly was she involved in here? Heero really was a cop and so was Trowa and no doubt Duo was too. What was she going to do now that now she had the means to get back at Blake?

"Do you really think that telling her the truth is going to keep her safer?" Heero growled at Trowa.

"She would have figured it out anyway, she already was. Don't underestimate her," Trowa replied levelly.

"Well hell, we can use this to our advantage," Dup piped up.

"No!" Heero yelled all of a sudden surprising everyone, including pairs of eyes turned to him.

"NO," Heero said, lowering his voice but managing to add some menace to it.

"Why the hell not?! I can help!" Usagi returned unfazed.

"NO," Heero repeated.

"Well then, you have two options, either you let me help or I'll go to Blake myself and tell him everything," Usagi retorted not sure why she was pushing this point.

Duo immediately shot up from his seat ready to reign down on her parade.

"Like hell you well," Heero beat him to the punch.

"You can't hold me against my will," Usagi said smugly.

Heero smirked at her. "Oh yes I can."

Usagi blanched at him but turned to look at Trowa.

He merely shrugged.

Usagi bolted from the room realizing they were serious.

Heero, being taller and faster caught up to her grabbing her around the waist, effectively stopping her. "Where do you think you're going?" he whispered in her ear.

Usagi shivered at his closeness and as his breath tickled her ear. What was wrong with her?

Heero let her go a moment later realizing holding onto her might be more dangerous than actually letting her escape—the feel of her under the silky material of her robe teasing him much too much.

"Are you really serious about this Heero?" Ikuko asked him attentively, worry etching her face.

Duo answered for him. "This case is too big to risk anything. We haven't had an opportunity like this for almost a decade, we can't simply let either of you go without jeopardizing something," Duo told her in all seriousness.

Ikuko nodded in understanding. "We'll consider our choices then," she said reasonably.

"Mom! You can't be serious!" Usagi exclaimed.

Ikuko fixed her with a stern glare. "Did you not hear him? This is bigger than us, we can't simply run around freely, they won't let us and it isn't safe. We can't do as we please in this case, and you shall not put yourself in harm's way for the sake of your pride and the silly notion that you can exact some kind of revenge in the process."

Usagi gaped at her mother. "How did you know—"

"You're my daughter and he was your father and my husband—I know how you feel."

Usagi cast her eyes to the floor, ashamed and not wanting anyone to see the shimmering of tears in her eyes. She was being emotional and irrational. Of course her mother was right, but that still didn't change the way she felt. He father deserved justice, not have his death stamped as gang related and unsolved.

The defeated look on her face made Heero just want to go over to her and just wrap her in his arms. He missed the determined gleam in her eyes and thought he would rather have her feisty spirit back than see her so put out, but he couldn't have what he wanted and keeping her safe was more important.

Just then Trowa's cell phone rang. He answered on the second ring. "Barton," he spoke.

He listened intently to what the voice on the other end was saying. A minute passed before he flipped the phone shut.

"Duo, we need to get Wufei and head out," Trowa told Duo.

Duo nodded his head and uttered a quick goodbye before exiting the room.

"We'll talk later Usagi," Trowa said before he too nodded at everyone and left the room.

Heero of course knew where they were going. They were no doubt being called down to where Jacob and Frank had dumped Chiba's and Max's bodies. That had not turned out as he had planned. Usually, the way he did things did not end in anyone's death; rather throw them in jail without Blake being the wiser. But this time he had had no control over the situation and witnessed more death, along with exposing it to Usagi. His heart gave that unfamiliar tugging sensation again with the thought of putting her in danger and it was more than he could bear at the moment. He had to put some distance between them.

"You two will be staying here until you figure out your options," Heero said, "Goodnight." And with that he left the room swiftly.

"So we're stuck here?" Usagi asked meekly.

"For the time being, yes," answered Quatra.

Usagi sighed. "So be it."

"Mrs. Tsukino you must be tired, I'll call someone to take you to your room," Quatra told the older woman politely.

Ikuko nodded her head. "Thank you."

Quatra pressed the buzzer on his desk and a moment later the woman who had made Usagi comfortable entered the room.

"Master Quatra," Alma acknowledged bowing slightly.

"Alma, can you please escort Mrs. Tsukino to her room please," Quatra told her gesturing to Usagi's mother.

"Sure thing," Alma replied and turned to face the woman. "This way ma'am," she said following Ikuko out the room but not before Ikuko kissed her daughter goodnight and thanked Quatra once more.

"There's nothing you can do right now, Usagi," Quatra told her turning his attention back to her.

"I can help," Usagi said with a determined nod, "They just don't know it yet." And with that she too left the room.

Quatra sighed and shook his head. He had definitely never encountered a woman such as Usagi. She had unbelievable strength and it was refreshing to see her put Heero on the edge. Why, she could even be right about them needing her help…

**

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Author's Note:** Eh, I know it was a boring chapter but it was necessary. The next chapter is almost finished though! ;) Tell me what you think! :)


	6. A Turn in Events

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews! Here is the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!

_Save Me_

By: Wicked Tenshi

Chapter 6: A Turn in Events

After Heero left Quatra's office, he got into his car and sped away, heading back to the city. Okay, so this woman was affecting him more than he had anticipated, but that did not change a thing. He wasn't going to let herself be used as bait. He knew what she was thinking; his brain had gone down that path when she mentioned she could be of use. And he was sure that they could use her and get this thing over with faster, but he refused to put in her any sort of danger, it wasn't necessary and he would not go down that road again, he did not need to sacrifice anyone else for the sake of any of his missions.

Heero floored the gas pedal and sped off, trees flashing by, as he told himself he was doing the right thing in protecting her, protecting the innocent.

_Usagi_

Usagi stormed off to her room. Okay, she needed to calm down and get her thoughts together. She reached her room and entered. Everything was the way she left them. Sighing, she shed her robe and climbed onto the bed. She laid there for a moment before she started to process everything that had gone down tonight. She would leave the crying for later, for she had more important things to consider. For one, Mamoru had never made her feel anything like what Heero had made her feel with just a single touch, but she pushed that idea aside for a later time.

So, she had been right. Heero was a secret agent and Trowa and Duo and some other guy named Wufei, were probably one too. She hadn't anticipated on being right, but Alex, _Trowa_, she mentally corrected herself, had clarified any misgivings she had had. The thought of Trowa still being alive, she was still processing. She had seen him gunned down one night after work when he and some of Blake's men tried to defend the club from rival gangsters. Trowa had been "assigned" as her shadow after a guy at the club had tried to get too friendly with her. News had reached Blake and apparently he didn't like the idea of anyone trying to take "his woman". Usagi scoffed. After that, she and Trowa had gotten to know each other, strictly on a 'professional' level and had soon become friends. He had been or was, she didn't know anymore, one of her closest friends.

That thought aside, Usagi contemplated the two options Heero had given her. Either she returned to her normal life, hoping Blake didn't take things to a more serious level, like say… kill her, or she and her mother could go under the witness protection program. Anyone in her shoes would see the clear choice was to enroll in the protection service but she knew she could help them more than if she were to go into hiding. The urge to avenge her father's death became more and more of a reality with the development of things. She wanted to do this, no matter the danger. She wanted to do it for herself, for her mother… for Heero? The last didn't make any sense but it had popped into her head all the same.

Heero, she concluded, was an enigma, one that was growing on her. His outburst earlier had triggered something in her. Why was he so adamant against her helping? Was it because he had a strong sense of duty to protect others or was it more? He after all could have refused reasonably, but he hadn't. He hadn't even offered an explanation, which meant he was not sharing everything. But why would he? Usagi asked herself. He was after all a mystery and she knew nothing about him and the way he worked. But she would figure him out, if only to get under his skin and have him unwind. She wanted to prove to herself that she could, she needed a challenge to get all the unpleasant thoughts out of her head.

Sure, her boyfriend was dead, but after today she realized what a jerk he truly was. Who pulled their girlfriend in front of them to defend them self?! Only a coward, Usagi reasoned. Now she only harbored disgust for him. But still, he didn't deserve to die, but that was the harsh reality she lived in, one where Heero was trying to do away with…

_Heero_

Approaching the city, Heero was concentrating on not thinking about the blond haired beauty he had dropped an ultimatum on. Had that been really fair of him to just drop something like that on her when she had been a witness to her boyfriend's death? He was about to mull over that when his cell phone buzzed.

"Yuy," he answered through his Bluetooth headpiece, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Blake here," a man's gruff voice replied.

"Yes Boss?" Heero asked rolling his eyes. What did he want now, to grill his ass more about his failures tonight?

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna rag on yah ass about tonight. Things could have gone worse but they didn't. But whatevah, I got biggah fish to fry. You just bettah find that Tsukino girl and bring her to me or yah ass is grass. Got it?" Blake demanded.

"Hn," Heero said before disconnecting him. Hell, he wouldn't be cornered, even by 'The Boss' and 'The Boss' knew that. But Blake's demand did make things more complicated now. And what exactly did he mean by "biggah fish to fry"? Heero knew Blake well enough to know when the man was bragging and he hadn't heard about any other hits that were big. But not to worry, he would soon find out.

Heero dialed a number and listened to the dial tone.

"Yuy, man that was some shit last night," a voice answered Heero sounding amused.

"Hn," Heero replied.

"You haven't changed a bit" the voice observed dryly. "What can I do you for?"

"Blake's talking about some big hit that's going down; do you know anything about it?" Heero asked, getting right to the point.

"Yea, I've heard about it, but I'm surprised Blake mentioned it to you," the man said.

"He was bragging again, you pick up on stuff like that after a while," Heero replied.

The man chuckled. "Sure sounds like Blake," he said. "So yeah, he's planning this big hit in a month. All of New York's elite will be there, including the mayor and governor. Ambitious he says is what he's after so he can follow through with his original plan of domination. He says he's gatta do something big like this to show that he's serious—"

"Do you know when and where?" Heero asked cutting him off.

"Blake's a lot of things but he's not stupid, he'll only trust his top guys with that kind of info," the voice said.

"So how do you know about it, Rick?" Heero asked wryly.

"You know how shit like this always trickles down the ranks," Rick replied.

"Hn," Heero replied.

"And that's my cue to get off the phone," Ricked chuckled before disconnecting. "Later."

"Just fuckin' great," Heero muttered under his breath before shifting gears to make a screeching U-turn.

Things were definitely taking on a new turn and it was definitely not for the good. He was in deep shit. Taking out the mayor AND governor? That _was_ on the ambitious side and something told Heero that if anyone could pull it off it would be Blake and his men. Even though Heero'd never seen Blake up close and personal, he knew what the man was capable of. Blake had to be stopped at all costs. Innocent people were going to die because of his power hungry ways, but Blake would be stopped, Heero was one-hundred percent sure of it. He drove back to the mansion at top speed.

_Usagi_

The sound of angry voices yelling woke Usagi at 9 a.m. the following morning. After falling asleep and dreaming about a certain Prussian eyed man, she was about as rested as she could be. Her inquisitive nature made her got out of bed, however. After a quick brushing of her teeth and splashing water on her face, Usagi followed the sound of the voices, coming to a stop outside of Quatra's office door, which was slightly ajar. She listened to the voice talk about some "change in plans" after which was followed with a Chinese looking man storming out of the room, followed by Trowa going after him.

Trowa seemed startled to see her outside the door, but didn't say anything as he followed the man in the ponytail down the hall.

Usagi walked into the room anyway.

"What was that about?" Usagi asked jabbing a thumb in the general direction Trowa had gone.

Three pair of eyes turned to look at her, faces all guarded and taunt.

"I hate to say this, but I told you so," Duo said looking at her.

"Just shut up and go to bed," Heero snapped at him.

"No need to be so harsh, man," Duo said defensively before leaving the room.

"What did I miss?" Usagi asked, anger slipping into her voice, acutely aware that they had been talking about her.

Quatra spoke. "Things have taken a turn for the worst I'm afraid" he said looking at her pointedly.

"Is that why Wufei is so upset?" She asked.

Quatra looked at her in surprise. "How did you know that was Wufei?" He asked somewhat skeptical.

Usagi just shrugged and slid into the plush leather chair Duo had vacated, aware that Heero's eyes were following her every movement.

"Are you going to tell me what's up or not?" Usagi asked once more.

"It seems like we'll need your help after all," Heero told her icily, his gaze frigid.

So why is he mad at me? Usagi asked herself confused. But to the two men she said. "So what do I have to do?"

Heero gave a humorless laugh. "You're not worried about the danger in this are you?" he asked mirthlessly.

"If I think about the danger, I wouldn't be of any help, so it's not best to dwell on that," she answered simply no sure why he was being so cold.

"Figures," he muttered dryly before marching out of the room.

Usagi looked after him questioningly. "Okay…"

"He doesn't normally behave like this," Quatra mused aloud.

"If you say so…" Usagi said targeting Quatra with her curious gaze. "Are you going to tell me why?"

"I guess I have no choice, you can be very persistent," Quatra told her with a small smile.

"More than most, sure, so go ahead," Usagi said.

Quatra turned to look out the bay windows behind him. "To understand Heero's reaction, you have to know where he's coming from."

Usagi nodded but realized he couldn't see her. "Go on."

"I'm not sure if I should be telling you this at all, Heero's a very private person and the last thing he would want is pity."

"Pity?" Usagi asked confused.

Quatra turned to look at her fiercely. "Heero's life is not at all easy, it never was and it probably never will be. He's seen so much death that you probably wouldn't think its fair at all, but life isn't fair," Quatra's expression turned to one that said he wasn't seeing the present anymore. "Heero's parent's and mine were very good friends once upon a time. But as fate would have it they were killed—right in front of him. Being an orphan is never a good thing and before we knew it he was lost in the system. God knows only what happened to him then. However, when he turned eighteen, he became a cop and then sought me out soon after. By then he had become a cold, hard man, sworn to protect the innocent," Quatra looked at her then and a chill ran down her spine. "His skills were soon recognized higher up and he became an FBI agent, doing undercover missions and what have you. I myself do not have all the details, but Heero became colder still. He's failed a few times and it's made him ever tougher on himself. He won't tolerate failure anymore that is why he refuses the idea of you "helping." He won't have an innocent in any sort of dangerous situation, even if it means it'll allow him to get the job done faster. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Usagi said, "I do and I'm guessing time is against him, as are all odds, so that's why he's agreed to let me help?"

A small smile made its way onto Quatra's lips. "Trowa was right, you are a smart woman."

Usagi merely shrugged. "It's not rocket science."

Quatra nodded. "It isn't but you are quick on your feet, which will no doubt be an asset," he told her.

"So I'm guessing this is the part where you tell me what exactly I'll be doing?" Usagi said.

"Yes," he replied taking a seat. "Heero recently found out some new information, which I'm afraid is just terrible. Blake is planning on assassinating the mayor and governor along with some of New York's elite."

Usagi gasped upon hearing this. "That's just—just awful!"

"Indeed it is," Quatra agreed. "But we've devised a plan, one which the FBI sector Heero is working with has approved of," at her nod he continued. "The new plan is for you to go to Blake instead of him chasing after you; do you know what that implies?" He asked her observing her reaction carefully. "But of course if you cannot go through with this—"

"I know what it implies," Usagi cut him off, "and I'm willing to do it. New York will fall into a state of panic and mayhem if Blake succeeds."

"You do get the picture…" Quatra murmured.

"Of course I do," Usagi said with a humorless laugh. "I'm not dense; anyone in my position would want to help. But how are we going to make this work?" she asked.

"Heero will have to brief you on that himself," Quatra answered.

"Great," Usagi muttered, sinking into the couch more.

Quatra smiled at her reaction. "It would seem that you have the same exact effect on him as he does on you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She glared.

He chuckled. "It's not rocket science," he turned her words on her. "Anyone can see what's going on here."

Any response Usagi might have made was cut off by excellent timing on behalf of Quatra's housekeeper.

"Breakfast is getting cold," Alma announced.

"We're coming right now," Quatra answered. "Usagi?"

"Yea, yea just let me get changed," she muttered before leaving the room.

Breakfast was a quiet affair. Everyone Usagi had met during the night was present, including Wufei and her mother. Maybe it was because of recent developments, but there was hardly any conversation being made, except for the bickering going on between Duo and the Chinese man.

"Will you two quit it?" Quatra scolded. "We have guests."

He turned apologetically towards Ikuko and Usagi. "Ladies, I'm sorry that you had to be a witness to their juvenile behavior, but these here are Duo and Wufei, I'm not sure if you were formally introduced," he told them and then turned to Duo and Wufei. "Duo, Wufei, this is Mrs. Tsukino and her daughter Usagi."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Duo grinned.

Wufei on the other hand fixed Usagi with a glare that had her backpedaling. What's his problem? Usagi asked herself.

"Don't be so rude, Wu-man," Duo chided from beside him.

"Don't Maxwell—DON'T," Wufei growled.

"Don't mind him ladies, he has a sexist complex going on," Duo teased.

Usagi just giggled at Wufei's annoyed expression.

"Jesus, will you two stop it?" Trowa asked unnaturally.

Duo just stared at him but did as he was told and continued to eat his breakfast. Wufei just shook his head and continued eating as well.

Heero had remained quiet while this exchange had taken place. He couldn't decide if he was still angry at Usagi after that laugh or not. He sighed into his coffee mug. Things we definitely getting too complicated, and having a possibly suicidal girl along for the ride was not helping in the least bit.

_After Breakfast_

"Okay," Duo said getting everyone's attention, "This is how it's going to be. Heero is going to take Usagi to Blake," he looked at her. "You're gonna have to use your womanly charms on him or something, because you need to get him to tell you where and when this event is going to take place, so we can stop him," Duo told her.

"Okay, sounds easy enough. Blake's enough of a bragger to let things slip," Usagi said.

"Don't count on it, he's not as stupid as he seems," Heero told her, fixing her with a hard look.

"Hmm, well I'll have to gain his trust then," Usagi reasoned.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Wufei murmured dryly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Usagi asked annoyed.

Wufei glared at her. "What do you think? It's obvious all you have to do is spread your legs and the information will just fall into your lap with the way Blake is always after you—"

"Enough!" Heero grounded out. "You've crossed the line Wufei, apologize."

"Sold out to her already, have you Yuy? You screwing her too?" Wufei spat.

"Excuse me!" Usagi yelled mortified.

"Okay that is taking it too far Wufei," Duo said, with a disappointed look on his face.

"Whatever," Wufei muttered before storming out of the room.

"What the hell is his problem?" Usagi asked angry as hell.

"Wufei, let's just say has had a hard time with the women in his life. He doesn't think they can be trusted," Quatra clarified.

"Present company, excluded," Trowa added for her benefit. "We know we can trust you."

Usagi sighed. "Let's just get on with this, please."

"Right," Duo continued, picking up where they left off, "you have about a month to find all of this out."

"Okay, I'll do my best. But how am I going to get this information to you? I'm sure Blake's gonna have his guys tailing me all the time." Usagi pointed out.

"We've already taken that into consideration," Duo continued. "Blake made a personal call to Heero last night and wants him to take you in to meet face to face. Heero will no doubt be "assigned"," Duo used his fingers to punctuate 'assigned', "to watch you. If that's the case, you'll just relay the info to him. If that's not the case, planting a bug on you is out of the question, Blake has all the latest technology to detect that stuff; you'll just have to meet Heero in private, but we'll figure all that later after your meeting with Blake."

Usagi nodded. "Okay. I think I can manage to convince Blake to have Heero "assigned" to me as well though," she said mimicking Duo's emphasis of the word 'assigned' but with a grin on her face.

Duo returned her grin. "If you think you can, then go ahead. But try not to make anything look suspicious. We don't want him to catch onto anything."

"Got it," Usagi said then turned to address Heero. "So when you taking me in?" she asked him.

"You'll go to work tonight and I'll drag you out, and then take you to him," Heero replied.

"Dramatic," Usagi said nodding, "I like it."

Heero rolled his eyes. "This isn't a game."

"I think I know that, I wouldn't put my life on the line if this were a game," Usagi retorted.

"Hn," was her only answer and she glared at him.

"Whatever," she said. "How am I getting back to the city and, more important, what's going to happen to my mother?"

Trowa answered her this time. "Heero's told Blake that your mother is out of town, visiting a sick relative and that he's sent a man to tail her, but your mother is going to be safe here."

Usagi nodded. "Okay. That's a relief."

**Author's Note: **That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed! Have any thoughts, possible scenarios? Let me know! :)


	7. Setting Things into Motion

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! I apologize to those who have been waiting for a new chapter. In addition to having writer's block, I've not had the desire to write and I attribute that to a number of things, but that aside I've decided to finish this story. _I'd also like to thank everyone who has ever read, reviewed or added my story to their alert or favorite story lists! Your continuous support keeps me going!_ :D And now here is the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!

_Save Me_

By: Wicked Tenshi

Chapter 7: Setting Things into Motion

As the time for her to go to work rolled around, Usagi was safely in a taxi on route. She had rehearsed her story for when she would be brought to Blake about a million times already, and had to admit she was beyond nervous and scared. But she had to do this. Peoples' lives depended on it…

Working for almost an hour already, Usagi could see things in the real world were going on as usual, but there was still no sign of Heero yet. _Where is he?_ Usagi asked herself, occasionally scanning the crowd. She would feel so much better when he got here, feel safer.

"Looking for me?" someone whispered into her ear, causing her body to shiver involuntary as she recognized the voice.

"Actually," she said turning to face Heero, fixing him with a smile, "Yes, I have."

Heero was momentarily stunned by her smile. It was so extremely beautiful he forgot how to breathe for an instant. He mentally shook himself. This was neither the time nor place for this…

He took her hand instead and dragged her behind him. "Come on— time to get this over with."

Usagi dropped her platter on a nearby table and pretended to struggle against Heero.

He turned around and growled. "Stop it!" But Usagi could see amusement in his eyes.

His outburst got a few people's attention. Everything was going as planned.

"No! Let me go!"

"Is there a problem here?" a guy asked.

Heero ignored him and kept on walking, but stopped when the same guy put a hand on his shoulder.

"Uh oh," Usagi whispered.

"Get your hand off of me," Heero grounded out between clenched teeth.

"Let go of the girl first," the pretentious bastard demanded.

"I don't think so," Heero said before connecting his fist with the guys face, knocking him out. _What a light weight_, he scoffed.

A little thrill went through Usagi, even though she knew it wasn't an appropriate sentiment for the occasion.

"Let's go," Heero told her pulling her along again.

They made it out of the club without anyone coming after them again. The bouncers would have their hands full with the unconscious guy.

Heero handed her a helmet.

Usagi looked at it suspiciously. "We're not using a car, are we?"

"Smart girl," Heero teased.

Usagi just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hurry up and put it on," Heero instructed, already on his bike with his helmet on.

Usagi nervously eyed the bike, while putting her head gear on.

Heero smirked upon seeing her expression. "Scared?"

"No," she said jumping on behind him and contrary to her statement, held on to him tightly.

Heero would have grinned if the thought of what they were about to do hadn't been rolling around in his mind.

"Here we go—" he said to her before cranking the bike up and tearing off down the road.

Usagi squeezed her eyes shut and rested her head against his back, holding on for dear life. Next time she would insist that they use a car…

Heero followed the directions to the club where Blake would be. It was going to be the first time he was seeing his "Boss" and he was glad he would be getting the chance to size up the man he was assigned to take down.

It took them less than ten minutes to reach their destination, probably due to Heero's insane driving skills, Usagi reasoned. Dismounting the bike and pulling off her helmet at the same time, Usagi stared at the line of people waiting to enter the club. She knew they wouldn't have to wait due to the nature of things. She was shook out of her thoughts as Heero grabbed her upper-arm for show and pulled her along to the bouncer.

"Yuy," was all Heero said and just like that the bouncer let him in. He would have thought it was harder than that to get in, but it seemed that Blake had given the bouncer instructions.

When they entered the club, it was dark, laser lights being the only thing that illuminated the densely packed bodies, some of which were gyrating on the dance floor. Usagi held onto Heero instead of having him tugging her along.

Heero made eye contact with some of Blake's men, one of them nodding him in the direction of the private booths on the second floor.

Delivering a swift knock on the door, Heero stood back with Usagi pressed against him.

A moment later, the door opened to reveal a tall, muscular man, his face curling into a snarl as he took in Heero.

"He's waitin' for you," the man said. He stank of alcohol, causing Usagi to wrinkle her nose.

They entered the room, and the guy closed the door behind them, disappearing outside. They were alone in room, except for one man, who was lounging in a chair, a cigarette poised in mid air between his fingers.

"Welcome, welcome," Blake said, his eyes lingering on Usagi, paying no mind to Heero.

"She's here just like you wanted," Heero told him, not liking the way his eyes were trained on Usagi.

Blake turned his gaze on Heero, sizing him up. "Yes, I hope it wasn't too much trouble for you?"

Heero resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No," he answered instead.

"Well you know what?" Usagi growled, "No one asked me if I wanted to be here."

Blake returned his gaze to Usagi, licking his lips as he appreciated her barely-there clothes. "I'm afraid you ain't got no say in the matter, sweetheart, and you've been hiding from me," he drawled.

"Anything to get away from you," Usagi said dropping onto a couch, exposing a leg further.

Just as she had anticipated, Blake's eyes followed the movement, lingering on her exposed thigh before moving up her body to settle on her face again.

Usagi smirked. "See something you like?"

"Plenty," Blake countered.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" she asked with a flirty smile. Inside, she writhed with disgust.

"Yuy, why don't you step out for a moment," Blake stated rather than asked.

Heero shot Usagi a look and she nodded her head slightly.

"Hn," he said before leaving the room, fighting the urge to just shoot Blake right then and there, for if he did he was sure both he and Usagi would be dead within an instant. Heero wasn't over confident in his abilities; he knew that there was a security camera in the room along with fully armed body guards waiting by the door, ready to bust it down in the blink of an eye. He simply couldn't risk it, and in a club packed with innocent people. But the instant he left the room, his body went on full alert, not sure what to expect and plagued with worry for Usagi. He found that every minute she was in there, he became increasingly anxious and harder for him to breathe. What was he feeling this way?

_Usagi_

Blake scrutinized her. "Since when have you become so compliant?" he asked suspicious.

Usagi froze for a millisecond before her wit kicked in. "Since, my life became in danger," she said with a shrug.

"Smart girl," Blake murmured coming over to her and taking a seat next to her.

Usagi squirmed on the inside at his proximity. She would much rather be squashed up against Heero… Now, where had that thought come from?

"No one ever accused me of being thick," she retorted.

"Well then, we'll see just how obedient you can be when your life is on the line," he said, adding a little menace into his voice, which he probably thought was sexy, as he trailed his hand up her exposed leg.

Resisting the urge to cringe at his touch, Usagi stopped his hand from going up her thigh any further. "I don't go down without a fight," she said, gently pushing him back against the couch forcing herself to press her chest against his to farther entice him. "What do you take of that?" she purred.

Blake was definitely being enticed. "I'll have no choice but to protect you then. Don't want nobody else taking what's mine," he murmured catching the finger she was trailing down his face with his mouth, sucking on it gently.

_Ewwww_, Usagi thought.

Usagi abruptly pulled away from him. "You think I need protecting?" She huffed.

"Anything that's precious to me needs protecting," he countered.

_Good grief_, she thought. But outwardly she smiled at him, lowering her eye lids. "You know just what a girl wants to hear," she purred again.

Blake grinned at her.

"But unfortunately for you, I'm not a regular girl," Usagi said, hoping she sounded a mix of a tease and a confident bitch; this was the part where she would demand that Heero be the one to watch her.

"Oh yeah?" He asked clearly taking her cues.

"Yes," she said marching over to the mini bar to pour herself a drink. "I have class," she said while she poured Tequila into a shot glass, "And I sure as hell don't want any of your filthy stinkin' men who thinks he can talk to me watching my back, only to check my ass out when I'm not looking," she demanded, bring the glass to her lips, swigging its contents, and turned around to find him doing just that and smacked the glass on the bar top.

"Hehe," he laughed nervously, not sure if he liked the glint in her eyes. He was sure he had underestimated her bitchiness. "You got someone in mind?" he asked hoping he could please her.

"As a matter-of-fact, I do," Usagi said coming back to him, only to straddle him. This would take his mind off anything and give her what she wanted, she was sure of it. Duo had said to use her womanly charms after all. "That guy who brought me in," she whispered into his ear teasing him, "Doesn't talk or even look at me _and_ he doesn't stink," she said kissing the side of his handsome mouth. She told herself if he hadn't been so good looking, she wouldn't have agreed to this, thinking herself vein right now was better than thinking of how she was demeaning herself.

"I think that can be arranged," Blake managed to get out, beyond distracted by her ministrations on his neck. "Sweet Jesus," he murmured throwing his head back.

Usagi was more than relieved when there was a swift knock on the door. The person on the other side didn't bother to wait for an answer, he just barged in. It was the muscular man from before.

"What the hell, is it?" Blake asked clearly annoyed.

The man took in their position and seemed to shirk back. Even he knew better than to interrupt the Boss while he was getting it on, but this was important, more so than any bimbo that was trying to get into Blake's pants.

"We have a problem," rumbled the big guy.

Usagi took that as her cue to get off of Blake but made eye contact with Heero in the process. He was standing just outside the door looking at her. _Shit_, she thought, _he's not supposed to see any of this. He probably thinks Wufei was right about me… _But what did she care? He was no one to her. _Lie_, a voice whispered, _you do care what he thinks of you_.

The look on Heero's face however told her all she needed to know and an unknown panic started to build within her.

"Yuy!" Blake barked.

Heero walked into the room, looking bored.

"You're in charge of keepin' an eye on my gurl, keep her happy and don't fuck up!" Blake instructed, and then left the room with the burly guy following after him.

"I want to go home," Usagi said, some of her pretend bitchiness leaking into her voice before she was able to catch it.

Heero just fixed her with a hard gaze, and bit out, "As you wish," and started to walk away.

"Heero!" She called out, reaching for him, but he was too fast and eluded her grasp. She was left to follow in his wake.

"Heero!" she called again when they reached his bike, this time managing to grab his hand.

He whirled around on her, shaking off her hand and he thought she looked hurt for a moment. _Hurt?_ He scoffed. She sure as hell hadn't been hurting back in the room with Blake.

"What?" He growled.

Usagi took a step back, afraid for a moment. The look on his face was definitely not friendly.

Heero dropped the attitude knowing yelling at her was taking it too far. What did he care? It wasn't as if she meant anything to him…

"I'm sorry—I shouldn't have yelled at you," he apologized.

Usagi's features softened at his apology. Something told her that apologizing came hard to the man in front of her.

"No," she shook her head, "I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have demanded you do anything for me," she told him.

Heero shook her apology off. They shouldn't be having any kind of conversation out in the open; it could make things backfire on them.

"Don't worry about it," he told her. "At least you managed to do your part," he said managing to keep the disgust and jealously out of his voice.

Usagi didn't know what to say to that, instead she asked, "What now?"

"You want to go home, don't you?" he asked handing her the helmet.

She nodded and got on the bike, behind him. "How is this going to work?"

"What do you mean?" he asked revving the bike up before he tore off.

"I mean, how are you supposed to keep an eye on me and keep me happy and all that stuff?" she shouted over the rev of the bike's engine.

"… your house," was all Usagi heard over the sound. She sighed, and decided she'd get her answer when she got home. In the mean time, she snuggled up against his back and rested her head on him. A smile making its way onto her face as she thought holding onto Heero definitely beat touching Blake by a long— very long—shot.

"Usagi?" a gentle voice stirred her from her thoughts.

"Hmm?" she murmured.

"You're home," the voice answered, clearly amused.

That brought her head up. She hadn't even noticed the engine going dead she had been so caught up in her thoughts. _Weird_, she thought.

She hopped off the bike handing over her helmet. Heero took it from her and secured it. When he started the engine again, she realized he wouldn't be staying with her, after all why would he?

"You're leaving?" she asked, voice raising an octave, in alarm. The thought of being alone in her house was more than enough to get her jittery.

"You shouldn't have to worry about anything, after all, you don't go down without a fight, remember?" he told her watching her reaction closely.

"How did you—"

"Does it matter?" Heero asked her.

"Heero… what happened back there…" she started but didn't know how to finish and more than ever she wanted him to understand, to tell him she wasn't anything like that.

He turned the bike off and came to stand in front of her. "You don't have to say anything," he told her bringing the back of his finger to trail down her cheek. "You were just doing what you had to."

She held his hand to her cheek and leaned into in. She ached for his touch and she didn't know why. She just knew that with every passing minute, she was getting more and more attracted to him.

"Just as long as you understand I'm not like that," she told him. "But will you stay with me tonight?" she asked pouting.

Heero groaned mentally. With that look, she melted all of his defenses. What was she doing to him? She wasn't even trying anything and already he was finding all the cold hard resistance he had constructed over the years was slowly vanishing in her presence. He had never experienced anything like this before. It all seemed so ridiculous, he had only come into contact with her a little more than twenty four hours and now he was finding that she was doing things to him no woman had ever managed to. He had to try and resist, he told himself, for her sake and safety. So he pulled back from her but agreed to stay.

"Just tonight," he said.

Usagi bit her lip, but nodded.

Heero secured his bike and checked the area before he stepped inside and securely locked the door behind him.

"I'll get the guest room ready for you," she said heading up the stairs.

"That's not necessary. I can manage down here," Heero told her.

Usagi faltered for a bit but didn't argue with him. She had a remote feeling that he was pulling back from her and that that caress a moment ago had been a stolen moment, one he might never repeat. Quatra's words came to her mind then. Heero was a hard man, he didn't express anything he was feeling and she considered herself lucky for the glimpse she had gotten to see.

"I'll get you a blanket and pillow then," she said and disappeared up the steps.

Heero sighed and sank onto the chair. He told himself he was doing the right thing by putting distance between them. He didn't have room for her in his life. He didn't even know her that well. He would only put her in more danger and having her in harm's way now was already driving him crazy.

Usagi descended the stairs with her arms full as Heero was taking off his shoes and jacket. She rested the bundle on the edge of the chair.

"Tell me you have boxers on under there?" she asked eyeing his jeans.

Heero raised an eyebrow at her and she had the good grace to blush.

"I wasn't implying anything like that, it's just you might be uncomfortable sleeping in jeans…"

Heero chuckled at her. "How considerate of you, and yes I do," he told her.

Usagi blushed again and then mumbled something about taking a shower before disappearing once more.

Heero shook his head and smiled. He still had a lot to figure out about her. But for the time being, he needed sleep. He hadn't had any for almost two days. While Usagi had gone to fetch him a blanket, he had made a phone call to Trowa and updated him on things and asked if he could send out a patrol every couple of hours so he could get some shut eye without being on alert all the time. So with that arranged he took off his shirt and kicked out his pants, leaving himself in his wife-beater and boxers. He made himself comfortable on the long couch and stretched himself out, adjusting the pillow behind his head and used the blanket to cover the lower half of his body.

An hour or so later, after a good scrubbing down to get rid of any germs Blake might have left on her, Usagi descended the stairs to check up on Heero. She found him asleep, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. She sat on the stairs, where she had a good view of him and admired his sleeping form. She had never seen him like this before, so vulnerable, so peaceful. She'd come to understand what kind of person he was, strong and silent, always looking out for others before sparing himself a thought. She admired that in him, he was out to protect, putting his life on the line daily for others and she wondered if he had ever allowed anyone to return the favor, to risk their life for his, to care for him. Her face crumpled in jealousy as she thought about the women who might have wanted to try. Who wouldn't want to love a man like him? She asked herself. He had all the good qualities a guy should have, excluding the harden attitude, but she knew that had been developed over the years due to unusual circumstances. He was extremely handsome and perfectly kempt, something which should not have made him looked so rugged and dangerous, but somehow he managed both. His sense of danger was also probably another thing that appealed to her. She cursed her father, or thanked him, for helping her to develop an attraction to bad boys. She giggled quietly. 'Bad boy,' she thought didn't adequately describe Heero. He looked nothing like a boy for one. He was purely male and all hard lean muscles, a perfect contrast to her feminine softness. While she fantasized about his hot body, he stirred a little bit and she took that as her cue to get some shut eye as well before he woke up and caught her staring at him. And as she trailed up the steps towards her room, one thought stayed with her: Heero was always saving people, but would he ever allow anyone to _save_ him?

The soft sounds of feet ascending up the stairs clued Heero in that Usagi was no longer watching him, and he took that as his cue to go to sleep as well. He didn't want to figure out why she had been staring at him right now—he needed sleep and then he would think about it…


	8. Closer

**Author's Note: **Thank you to everyone who keeps on supporting me! Just a head's up: Heero's OOC in this chapter, so I hope you don't mind too much. Also, there is a bit of a lemon scene in this chapter. The scene will be indicated and if you wish to skip it, scroll down to where it says 'END LEMON SCENE'.

_Save Me_

By: Wicked Tenshi

Chapter 8: Closer

_A Month Later…_

"I need to go to the mall," Usagi told Heero Friday afternoon after he had picked her up from her morning job.

"What for?" he asked, helping himself to some water from her fridge.

"I need a dress for tomorrow night, Blake's taking me to a party," she answered between bites of a sandwich she had fixed for the two of them.

Heero resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If there was one thing he knew about women was that if they said they needed to go to the mall for 'a dress' it would take hours and most likely end up with them walking out with multiple other clothing as well.

"Why can't you get a friend to go with you?" he asked instead.

"Aren't you my friend?" she asked pouting.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," he retorted.

"Are you refusing to take me?" she asked narrowing her eyes at him, "Maybe I'll tell Blake—"

"Are you threatening me?" Heero asked with a raised eyebrow.

"All I'm saying is you're supposed to be "protecting" me. What if something happens to me at the mall? What will you tell my _precious_ boyfriend? I might just insist on replacing you, if that's the case."

Heero did roll his eyes this time. "Your ability to manipulate people is uncanny."

Her only answer was a grin and suddenly a wave of dread washed over him. Surely, there was no greater punishment than going with a woman to shop?

Four hours and eleven stores later, Heero found himself seated outside of yet another dressing room, already surrounded with at least five bags and still no dress yet. He barely suppressed a groan as yet another woman eyed him, flashing him wide smiles and flirtatious looks. Usagi stepping out of one of the stalls saved him any conversation the woman might have wanted to strike up.

"OK. How about this one?" Usagi asked.

Heero had heard that line about thirty times already. Sometimes he wanted to laugh out right at some of the things she had tried on, and he had wondered if she was at all serious about finding a dress.

"No," he said to the one she currently had on. He thought it too slutty. The dress was hot pink, with a plunging neckline, a nonexistent back and slits on either side of her legs that went all the way up to the top of her thighs. The dress paired with her body would definitely attract more attention than she would want, and he might have to take out anyone who looked at her for too long.

Usagi pouted. "Why not?" she asked looking at herself in the mirror attached to a wall.

"Are you planning on getting mistaken for a slut?" he asked bluntly.

Usagi took in a sharp breath.

"Look you asked for my opinion, if you don't like it too bad," he shrugged.

Usagi huffed and went back inside the stall. "It seems that you don't like any of the dresses I've tried on."

"Why don't you go for something more subtle?" Heero suggested and a moment later was horrified at having given fashion advice to a woman.

Usagi poked her head out of the door and eyed him. "Did you just say what I thought you just said?"

"No," Heero denied.

Rolling her eyes, Usagi disappeared once again. "Okay,_ subtle_," she murmured, "I might have something in here that might work…"

A few minutes later she emerged and Heero found himself staring at her.

"Hmm," she grinned, "I take it that this is a keeper then."

"If you say so," Heero murmured looking away.

"Okay, where to now?" Heero asked five minutes later after Usagi had paid for her dress, courtesy of Blake's credit card.

"I need shoes," Usagi replied simply and headed off into the direction of a shoe store.

Heero shook his head and followed her; he was helpless and simply out of his depth in this situation.

"Are you going to the party as well tomorrow tonight?" Usagi asked Heero once they were in his car, dress, shoes and other accessories safely in the trunk.

"No," Heero replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

Usagi turned towards him in her seat. "You can't be serious?!" She exclaimed.

"Hn."

"Ugh! I can't stand it when you say that! It's not a proper answer goddammit."

"Hn," Heero said just to annoy her again, hiding a smile.

"This is not the time to go all quiet on me. Why aren't you going?" she asked hoping to get a real answer this time.

"Wasn't invited," he answered.

"Bullshit. You're doing something else. I know it," she said glaring at him.

Heero sighed. "Yes, I'll be doing something else, is that a problem with you?" he asked and looked at her.

Usagi didn't know how to react to that. Instead she turned back in her seat and stared forward. "I don't want to be there alone is all. But clearly you have more important things to do."

"I do. But Duo will be there to keep an eye on you. Do you honestly think I would ever leave you somewhere unguarded?"

His words affected her more than she was willing to let on so she settled for a, "I don't know."

"I wouldn't," was all he told her before concentrating on the road once more.

At this point Usagi knew the conversation was over and just tuned into her muddled thoughts to straighten some of them out.

When the car stopped Usagi didn't notice at first, still lost in her thoughts. A gentle touch on her hand instantly pulled her out though. She turned to look at her hand and found Heero's fingers touching her and looked at him. He was looking at her with an odd expression and she blushed realizing that she must have been out of it for a while, and quickly pulled her hand back. She thought she saw hurt flickering in his eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as she might have imagined it.

"Sorry," she murmured.

Heero nodded.

"Are you taking me to work tonight?" she asked trying to break the sudden tension that had descended upon them.

Heero nodded again. "Blake is picking you up after like always," he said and there was something in his voice she couldn't quite figure out.

The sudden urge to tell him nothing happens when Blake picks her up after work was overpowering. She didn't want him to think that she was like other women who threw themselves at men in a powerful position. She didn't want him to think that she was using her body to achieve her goal. And more than ever she wanted his respect... and love. But she couldn't tell him, she didn't know what he would think of that. He would probably think her incompetent and unable to perform the task at hand, but she would tell him everything once this whole ordeal was over with, she just hoped he would believe her. But she just couldn't stand it!

Usagi nodded and got out of the car, slamming the door behind her, and went to the trunk to get her bags, but Heero beat her to it.

"Thanks," she said gruffly, reaching to take the bags from him.

"Just go open the door," he told her.

"Fine," she retorted and spun on her heels to get the door.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked her when he reached her on the threshold, noticing the change in her behavior.

"Nothing," she shrugged pushing the door open.

He followed her into the house, dropping the bags by the bottom of the stairs. He grabbed her arm before she could disappear into the kitchen, spinning her to face him. Usagi looked taken aback, shock clearly written in her eyes.

"Something _is_ wrong," Heero demanded, still holding onto her. "_Tell me_."

It always surprised her how he had an uncanny ability to notice the changes in her moods. But she guessed after spending a month with someone like him, he would notice everything. She didn't feel like telling him anything, but she just couldn't resist the level of concern shining in his beautiful blue eyes. He never usually let any of his emotions surface in anything he did or in any of his expressions, so this was definitely odd of him. Maybe he did care about her…

She sighed, unable to look away from his eyes and told him half the truth. "I just wanted you to be there. I would feel better knowing it was you," she said and looked away. "You wouldn't let anything happen to me," she finished in a whisper.

Heero relaxed a little upon hearing her answer and his feelings turned tender towards her, all of his forcefulness disappearing. He took her chin gently in his hand and turned her face to his, and did something so out of character that it shocked them both. He kissed her.

Usagi had not been anticipating on a kiss, and it caught her off guard, but she returned it nonetheless when her brain was over registering the shock. She brought her arms around his neck, brining him closer to her. She felt him stiffen for a moment, but in the next he was deepening the kiss, satisfied by her answer. Their lips moved in unison, bringing them to heights neither had ever experienced. His hands on her body, made Usagi tingle all over, electrifying her senses awake, setting her heart in a mad race as she reveled in his kisses. Heero too took satisfaction from their contact, his body burning with pleasure and awareness. It was as if all of the tension that had been simmering between them was finally coming to a boiling point. They had resisted each other so faithfully until now. All of the unexplained feelings finally making brilliant sense as they both indulged in what they had wanted for so long, but was too scared to challenge.

Heero backed her up against the wall, pressing his body even closer to hers. Usagi gasped from the sensation it caused, her body becoming more heated as he trailed fiery kisses along her neck and shoulders. She closed her eyes from the sensory overload as she clung to him, eager for his kisses and touch. Never in her twenty two years of life had she ever felt like this, not even when she was in Mamoru's arms. The attraction between them could not even begin to add up to how she felt with Heero now.

**Lemon Alert!**

Usagi barely gasped out "bedroom," not stopping to think, just feeling, before Heero's lips came down on hers again, his hands continuing their sinful exploration of her body. He lifted her up and she clasped her legs around his waist, his hands going under her bottom to support her weight as he climbed the stairs, their mouths still connected. He opened her bedroom door, kicking it shut once he was in, and placed her gently onto the bed and kicked off his boots before coming down on her again. There was nothing that was going to distract them for being with each other tonight. They had fought their attraction for too long, till it had come to this all encompassing desire to be joined in the most primal way.

Heero moved his hands under her shirt, leaving a blazing trail on her skin wherever he touched, and swiftly pull it off of her, removing her skirt in much the same fashion. Usagi was determined to not be the only one to lose her clothing. She deftly had him on his back in an instant, straddling him. She kissed his throat and face as her hands work at unbuttoning his shirt. Once she had that off, she yanked at his undershirt and he pulled it off himself. Her eyes became mesmerized as she watched his muscles move with the simple action, before bringing her lips to caress his bare chest.

Heero sucked in a deep breath as she wrecked havoc on his exposed skin. Never had a woman made him feel this way. And contrary to what everyone thought, he was not bereft in the love making department. He felt her hands working on his belt buckle and in the next instant his pants were off. He was beginning to wonder how experienced at this she was, but refused to categorize her. He knew the kind of woman she was.

Usagi found herself so quickly on her back, her mind hadn't even registered it until she felt Heero's hand move to unclasp her bra and remove her panties. His eyes feasting on her naked flesh empowered her and she grinned at him.

"Like what you see?" she teased.

His eyes, she had noticed had darkened so much with desire that they almost looked black, and his only answer to her question was to kiss his way down her body. She moaned from the sensation, closing her eyes, her hands moving to clutch his head as his mouth ignited her skin. And then he was at the apex of her thighs, and she was lost in the oblivion of pleasure he produced there. Her body shivered, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she accepted his sensual torture, and before long he was inside her, moving expertly, causing new feelings for her to marvel in.

**End Lemon Scene...**

When they were done, they laid in each other's arms, gasping from their lovemaking, speechless and in disbelief about what had just happened, what they had just shared. Never had they known such physical pleasure, and they were more than satisfied with the outcome. But somewhere in the back of their minds, they acknowledge things were never going to be the same again, and that they were threading in dangerous waters. The situation from here on end would need serious evaluation. They could no longer deny their feelings for one another, for it was as impossible as not needing air to breathe.

Heero tightened his arms around her more securely, and she brought her head to rest on his chest, both satisfied to just be this way…

Before reality could impose on them again, they made love again until it was time for Usagi to go to work, not wanting to be apart from one another.

Heero left first to shower, leaving Usagi to her thoughts as she lay, tangled in the sheets, on her bed. She stared at the ceiling in wonder, her mind trying to decipher what her heart was feeling. She loved him. She didn't know when she had fallen for him; it was all so sudden, so _irrational_? But she knew why she loved him… No man had ever made her felt the way he had. She felt so many things when she was with him, but most of all she felt protected and safe when she was with him, something she had hardly felt before in her entire life. She didn't know how much time had passed before she realized the sound of water had stopped and that Heero was leaning against the door jam, gazing at her, his hair damp from his shower. She blushed from the intensity of his gaze and his mouth twisted into a smile.

"Are you planning on missing work?" he asked smirking, "because I wouldn't mind."

Usagi blushed again, but said, "My, I didn't know you were such a tease."

Heero grinned the most brilliant smile she had ever seen on him. "When it comes to you, my dear, I don't even know myself anymore."

At that admission, Usagi's heart soared, and she returned his smile with everything she was feeling. She bounded out of bed, not caring when the sheets fell away from her body, and went into his arms. He kissed her gently on the lips, and she sighed in contentment.

"Hmm, that can't be good can it?" she grinned.

"Definitely not," he returned, not wanting to let go of her, but he sighed and released her, knowing that he had to. Usagi pouted and he laughed at her expression.

"You're too cute for your own good," he told her dryly. "You better hurry up and get dress before I haul you back to bed."

Usagi wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed herself against him. She smiled a seductive smile and fluttered her eyes for a more dramatic effect. "I wouldn't mind that," she purred, kissing the side of his handsome mouth.

Heero groaned. "You'll be the end of me."

Usagi laughed delighted, and sauntered over to the bathroom, satisfied with his reaction. Heero just shook his head disbelievingly and made his way down the stairs to the kitchen. He'd whip them up something to eat before heading out. He knew that they were both hungry, who would be after all they had done?

As he set about to make sandwiches for them, his mind drifted. Things were definitely different between them now, and he frowned, thinking that the missions would no doubt be affected by this change. How easily they had succumbed to their attraction, he thought, their attraction must be that powerful, that basic, but he'd like to think it was more than that. He was tired of just being with someone just to have a physical release. What about emotional releases as well? All these years he had been running from the emotions, not daring to even think of sharing his life with someone else. But since he had met Usagi, something had changed. He had changed. He wanted nothing more than to protect her and keep her out of Blake's hands. He hated the very thought of that man touching her, kissing her, doing the things he had done with her. He growled. Heero Yuy was not the type of man to share his woman, yes _his_ woman, with another man. It was just simply unheard of. But he knew that this mission was so very important, that peoples' lives were dependent on his failure or success. He would just have to stick it out, control his jealousies, until he could safely take down Blake and his other mobsters. But he wouldn't like it. Right now, he would just settle on keeping Usagi safe.

Heero heard the object of his thoughts making her way down the stairs a short while later, as he munched on one of the turkey sandwiches he had made for them. He smelt her delicious perfume before she reached him, and he had the urge to just keep her hostage here…

Usagi walked up behind him and planted a kiss on his nape, then took the seat next to him, grabbing one of the sandwiches as well. Heero looked at her out of the corner of his eye, and groaned mentally. Her outfit was absolutely scandalous; could he let her walk around like that and have other men look at her?

He glared at her. "Do you have to wear such an exposing outfit?" he found himself asking her.

Usagi raised an eyebrow, but then grinned at him. "Are you jealous other men will look at me?" she asked, a teasing light in her azure eyes.

"Maybe," Heero returned his voice tight.

The teasing light vanished from her eyes, as Usagi realized he was serious. She put her sandwich down and went to stand next to him. She grasped his face between her hands and looked deep into his eyes. "It doesn't matter who looks at me," she said. "I only have eyes for you." And then she kissed him, with the full strength of the love she felt for him, as if to back up her words. Heero kissed her back, knowing her words to be absolutely true…

_Later That Night…_

Heero lounged on one of the plush sofas located on the ground floor of the club where Usagi worked her nights at, the music thumping loud. Here he had a better view of her actions. He was also surrounded by some of Blake's men, Frank and Jacob included. It's what they usually did if they didn't have any "work" to do. But since Heero spent most of his time just keeping an eye on Usagi, the others took it upon themselves to keep him company and hit on chicks. Heero could have done without their presence, as they only teased him about being Usagi's babysitter and lapdog. One look from him would however shut them up. He was still their superior, so they had to listen to him or face certain danger.

He and Usagi had been working a month already together, with Usagi filling him in on the bits and pieces from conversations she had overheard Blake having with his top men. Usagi had informed him that after Blake himself picked her up after work, he would take her back to his penthouse apartment in the Upper East Side. It was his primary hideout and Heero was proud of Usagi for getting the exact location of the place. Usagi had also said the place was heavily guarded and was always never short of other mobsters. She had also pointed out a few other wanted criminals, who were showing up more often than usual, in Heero's profile book. Heero and his FBI sector had come to the conclusion that Blake's big plan was coming to a head sometime really soon, but had no concrete date as of yet. They were also very sure that the men whom Usagi had pointed out were directly related and taking part in Blake's plot to take out the Governor and Mayor. Heero trusted Usagi utterly and trusted her words; she had no reason to lie to him. And as such the FBI trusted his judgment and had dispatched agents to tail the men. They were only able to get bits of information, not all of them reliable. So, here they were just waiting for Usagi to get the information that would set everything in motion.

Heero motioned Usagi over. She was standing in front of him a few moments later.

"Yes?" she asked annoyed. She knew better than to acknowledge him with any sort of familiarity.

"I need a drink," he told her derisively.

Usagi glared at him, knowing he was enjoying the little role reversal. Usually he never asked her to serve him anything; he always only did what she told him to do.

"What do you want?" Usagi asked him.

"You're not supposed to be rude to costumers," Heero told her with a smirk.

"You're not a customer, you're a nuisance," she retorted. She could see the playfulness in his eyes shining through; she also noticed he had had a few drinks already, which was unlike him.

"Can I get a Kiss on the Lips?" he asked causing the men around him to grin.

She pursed her lips to conceal the grin that wanted to break free. He was definitely not acting like himself. Maybe their lovemaking had brought out this side of him, or he was just drunk? It was hard to tell.

"Isn't that a little too fruity for you?" she asked rolling her eyes. She knew he was fighting a smile as well.

"Fine, fine, I'll have a Jack and Coke then," he replied. Usagi nodded her head. "Do you losers want anything?" she asked turning to look at his companions.

"Just a piece of that fine ass of yours," Jacob commented, eyeing her up.

Heero smacked him behind the head before she could.

"Oh, just wait until Blake hears about this," she growled before disappearing.

Something akin to fear passed through Jacob's eyes, but he glared at Heero. "So it's okay when you flirt with her?" he growled.

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about," Heero retorted dryly.

"Right," Jacob muttered before getting up. He would be damned if he would be made to look like a fool…

Heero watched Usagi make her way through the crowd, zigzagging to avoid getting her tray jostled. She was almost to him when a man grabbed her from behind, pulling her to him, effectively perturbing her efforts. Her tray crashed to the ground, and Heero instantly shot to his feet going to her immediately.

Usagi growled under her breath, as she shoved out of the person's arms who had grabbed her. God she hated when they did that. All they had to do was talk to her, not try to molest her, to get a drink. She bent down to grab the tray and the glass that had somehow managed to not get shattered, ignoring the idiot who had knocked it over. But he was grabbing her arm and pulling her up, crushing her to his chests. Great, she thought, it was going to be one of _those_ nights. She could smell the alcohol on the man's breath but held still. Heero would be by her side in a moment and he would handle this. And soon enough he was there.

"What's going on here?" she heard him, his voice bordering on hostile.

"Nothing that concern's you," the man holding Usagi answered.

"I think it does," Heero disagreed. "I suggest you let her go at once before you find yourself in a hospital."

The guy merely smirked. "You're gonna put me in a hospital? Ha!" he laughed. "You don't know who I am!"

"I don't care who the hell you are_, let go of her, or you will be sorry,_" Heero growled. In his time spent in keeping his eye on Usagi, this scene happened about almost every other night. Some rich, spoiled kid thought he could just waltz in and harass the prettiest waiter in the place. Heero always tried to use words before his fists in addressing the issue, but when the fool didn't want to be reasoned with, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing. And it didn't look like this fool was going to listen.

Heero pulled Usagi out of the guy's arms, and she quickly went to stand behind him. The man's face twisted into outrage and he lunged toward Heero. Heero however stopped him in his tracks, grabbing the fist that was about to punch him. He twisted the guy's arm until the man was bending his body to an angle which he hoped would lessen the pain. But before Heero could do any real damage he pushed the man back and he fell to the floor. His friends rushed to his aid, but Heero grabbed him by his collars and said in as menacing a voice as he could, "Don't ever come back here." The guy nodded his head, cowering slightly from Heero's glare. Heero released him abruptly and he skittered to his feet and out the club's doors. Heero immediately went to Usagi.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes scrutinizing her as they ran over her from head to toe.

"Yeah," she said and nodded. Heero must have been satisfied with her answer because he bent to pick up the glass and tray from the floor for her.

"Thanks," she laughed shakily taking them from him. "I really should get used to this."

"You shouldn't have to," Heero told her, trying to get his anger under control. She shouldn't have to put herself in such situations just to get by in life. She deserved so much more, so much better, and he became all the more determined to get rid of Blake and the outstanding debt that her father owed him. Heero vowed that he would make Blake pay for reducing her life to such squalid conditions before all of this was over…

"I'll go get you another drink," she told him about to turn away, not wanting to cause more attention to them.

"Don't worry about it," he told her. "It's about time you started to get ready to leave, anyway."

And she heard the tone he always used when it was time for Blake to pick her up. She wanted so much to reassure him that she never slept with Blake when they went to his place. She wanted to more than ever because of all they had shared earlier in the day. But she couldn't exactly do that here, when so many of Blake's men were around.

"Okay," she said looking at her watch and it was almost two thirty. "I'll go clock out and meet you out front."

Heero nodded, his face pulling into his usual hard mask. Metal bands constricted her heart at seeing his change in demeanor. How much longer was this charade going to continue? Usagi wanted to know. She just wanted to be able to freely go into his arms and kiss away all of his worries… She wanted to love him with abandon!

A few minutes later after having clocked out, she met Heero in front of the club. There were still lines outside, but today her shift was from nine to two thirty. Blake had played a hand in getting her hours reduced so she could spend time with him, while still getting her regular pay however. It had bugged her at first; she didn't like having any man dictate her life, and having her hours cut while she was still getting the same pay had also bothered her morals. Why should she get the same pay when she wasn't working the hours? Most people would have been ecstatic about this, but she wasn't. She knew dishonesty was not an honorable trait.

"You ready?" Heero asked.

She nodded, not at all wanting to leave him. She mentally pictured Blake's shocked face if he ever saw her kissing Heero and she had to grin. But it wasn't worth it.

Heero cocked an eyebrow at her. She just shook her head. She could already see Blake's car coming up the block and all her defenses went up. She formulated her look and tugged at her blouse, pulling it down a little lower. She saw Heero's scowl, but ignored it. She couldn't blow their cover by humoring him.

"If things get out of hand, you know what to do," Heero told her stiffly as Blake pulled up the curve. She nodded once, before going around to the passenger side door, not wanting to look at his face.

Usagi got in, leaned over and pecked Blake on the lips, suppressing a grimace, before buckling up. She was glad that the tints on the windows were dark enough so Heero wouldn't be able to see the exchange… And then Blake was taking off, driving at full speed towards the Upper East Side. They pulled up outside the building that housed his penthouse apartment and got out. One of Blake's men got in and took the car away. Blake wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer, as they walked through the glass doors and into a brilliantly lit lobby, extravagantly done up with marble flooring, a high ceiling with a huge crystal chandelier and exotic plants. The woman at the reception desk nodded in acknowledgement as the passed her on their way to the elevator. Once the elevator had safely closed its doors, Blake pulled her in for a long kiss. Usagi's mind immediately compared it to Heero's, and it simply did not match up. There was no fire, no burning desire or need, no electricity, no connection. And she longed to have her lips caress Heero's and not this man's.

"When are you finally going to let me have your body?" he whispered into her ear as he trailed kisses down her neck.

Usagi wanted to say never, but settled a glare on him instead. She had already made it clear that's she would not sleep with him until she was ready…

Blake grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her head back, so he could look at her. Usagi winced at the action. She looked him squarely in the eyes, challenging him to do something, but like always he didn't. Unusual as it was, he never did anything to hurt her; he wanted to keep her happy. Usagi didn't know why this was. Maybe he really did care for her? If that was the case, she really didn't give a damn either way. She could never see herself with a man such as he, a man who ruined peoples' lives for fun, who lusted after money and power. Blake just disgusted her to her core.

Blake sighed and released her, his impatience disappearing. Her innocent, good girl attitude just turned him on so bad, it almost hurt. But he wouldn't force her. Hell, he never forced a woman to have sex with him; they came to him all too willing. He would just have to wait until he had finally convinced her or… ask her to marry him. He wanted her _that_ bad. She was the only woman he had ever wanted so much, and it was driving him half insane… She didn't throw herself at him, which was why he found her so attractive and interesting, not to mention frustrating as hell.

He pulled her into his arms and Usagi let go of the breath she had been holding. He was always so unpredictable. One minute he could be so tender and then the next he could completely blow his top. She nuzzled his neck and kissed his chin, hugging him back. He always seemed to want her affection and it was the least she could do to keep him happy and not become angry with her. He kissed the top of her head and Usagi cringed mentally. How could she do this to a person? Deceive them so, when it was obvious his feelings for her? She was a terrible person. But then somewhere in the back of her mind, a small voice reminded her about how Blake had probably broken more hearts than she could possibly count, how he had broken more than hearts, he had broken families, killed countless of people and her resolved strengthened. With everyday that went by was another day lost in which she hadn't gotten any information that could permanently bust Blake and reveal whatever his big plans were. She would have to take a more direct approach if she wanted to extract herself from this situation and make Heero proud.

She gazed up at him and pouted.

"What's wrong?" he asked, face pulling into a frown.

"I was just wondering why there are always so many guys here. It seems like we can never get any alone time," she grumbled.

Blake chuckled at her. "These men are important for want I do, but they will be gone pretty soon, my lovely."

Hopefully this would take her somewhere…

"Define pretty soon? Give me a time frame, something…" she growled, but then turned on her sexy smile, trailing a finger along his jaw. "I want to be prepared."

Blake eyed her. "Does this mean what I think it means?" he asked.

"Just tell meeee," she said like a petulant kid, tugging at his shirt. "I want to go shopping…" she finished with a purr.

He laughed at her. "By next weekend, I promised," he told her.

Usagi pouted. "Can't they leave sooner?"

Blake was suspicious now. "What brought on this change in you?" he asked the same time the elevator dinged and opened its doors. He looked at the men already in his place, but punched the close button, effectively shutting the elevator doors on the on lookers.

Crap!

She just shrugged. "One of the reasons why I never want to do anything with you is because I find it a little disturbing to have sex with you when there are so many men just right outside the bedroom door. If they were gone, things could be different, you never know," she replied trying to sound convincing. It seemed to work.

Blake looked at her with incredulity in his eyes, but then the look softened. "Aw, my little bunny is shier that I thought," he murmured then chuckled, pulling her more tightly into his arms.

She shimmied away from him and pounded her fists lightly on his chest. "Don't make fun of me!" she protested. Blake continued to chuckle at her and grabbed her hands, stilling them.

"I'm sorry. You should have told me," he told her seriously after a moment.

Looking up at him, with what she hoped were earnest eyes, she told him, "I didn't want to bother you with petty things."

"Nothing is ever petty when it comes to you," he told her, reaching to caress her cheek.

Usagi closed her eyes and pretended to revel in the feeling.

"They will be gone by next Saturday, you have my word," he told her before reopening the elevator doors. Usagi nodded and together they stepped out the elevator.

"What's up Boss?" Tyrone, the big guy she and Heero had met that first time, asked seeing the look on his boss's face.

"Nothing," he grinned. "Just can't wait for next Saturday to get here," he finished, glancing at Usagi, who returned the look.

Tyrone stiffened and Usagi didn't miss it. "Are you sure you should be saying that kind of stuff around her?" He asked casting his own glance at Usagi. He was totally out of the loop and hadn't realized the nature of the exchange between Blake and Usagi.

Blake rolled his eyes. "The only one sayin' that kind of stuff is you, you big oaf!"

Tyrone looked confused.

"Forget it, she doesn't know what any of it means anyway," Blake muttered and brought himself down on one of the couch. Usagi went to the bar to fix them something, not wanting to linger and draw suspicion on herself.

So, next Saturday, huh? Heero was definitely going to like this info. But there was no way to know for sure, unless she confirmed with Heero to see if there was going to be a party where both the Mayor and Governor were to be attending. Hope buzzed in her that she'd only have to keep deceiving Blake for one more week, until she would be free to love whomever she wanted. But she tapered down her optimism. She couldn't afford to be _too _hopeful and slip up… For now she would have to keep playing it cool.

After getting their drinks, she sauntered over to where Blake was sitting. She scooted close to him on the couch and gave him his drink. He swung his arm around her shoulders, holding her to his side, and the night turned in to like any other. She sat with her legs crossed, and took the occasional sip from her drink as she listened as he conversed with the men that came and went, hoping to catch some vital piece of information…

**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading! Your thoughts and ideas are always welcomed! ;)


	9. Undercover

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the long wait! I've been off the radar for these past few months, but now I'm back on track and determined to finish this story. Only a few more chapters to go and I'll have put this story to bed as well. Hope you guys enjoy and like always your feedback is always welcomed!

_Save Me_

By: Wicked Tenshi

Chapter 9: Undercover

It was almost five a.m. when Blake dropped Usagi off at her house, and she was beyond tired. She stifled a yawn as he moved in for a goodbye kiss.

"I'm gonna miss you," Blake murmured in between kisses.

Usagi pulled away from him "reluctantly" and said, "I'll miss you too."

Blake sat back in his seat and gazed at the dark house as Usagi unfastened her seatbelt.

"How come your mother is never home these days?" He asked wanting to know.

Usagi's body stiffened, but she forced herself to relax and answered him with what she hoped was nonchalance. "She's been takin' care of a relative down in Riverhead."

"A relative?" he asked. Paranoia made Usagi think his voice was laced with suspicion.

"Yea, my grandma's younger sister. She had a stroke a few weeks ago," she said. She hoped that her answer sounded truthful and simple enough for him to even think about asking further questions.

"Uh huh," he murmured.

"What? You miss hounding her?" Usagi drawled.

But Blake just grinned at her. "Was just curious. But there's no more reason for harassing her now that I have _you_."

Usagi rolled her eyes, but smiled. "When she gets back, don't even think about messin with her!" she said and grabbed his coat collar, pulling him close. "Or I'll kick your butt myself," she finished in a whisper.

Blake chuckled. "Is that so?" he asked, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"Yessss," she purred before kissing him. Hopefully the kiss would make him forget about her mother's whereabouts and make him focus on only her.

"Hmmm, you should kiss me like that more often," he told her when they broke apart.

"Maybe, I will," she winked and got out of the car. She blew him a kiss before shutting the car door. She made her way up the threshold, adding a little more sway to her hips. When she got the door opened, she waved at him and watched him speed off. She sighed and locked the door. She hated this whole façade.

"Had fun?" a voice asked from the dark.

Usagi gasped and hit the light switch. "Heero," she breathed. "You scared me."

"Sorry," he drawled.

Usagi however was too excited to tell him about what she had found out to be mad at him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen and plopped him down on a kitchen stool.

"I think I got a lead," she told him, her face alight with her finding.

Heero straightened up. "What is it?"

"I think whatever he's planning to do it's gonna happen next Saturday," she told him.

"How did you find this out?" he asked not sure if he should be skeptical or not.

Usagi explained the conversation she had had with Blake in the elevator, editing the part where he had hounded her to have sex with him, and throwing in Tyrone's reaction as well.

"Hn," was all Heero said before pulling out his cell phone.

"Trowa, I need you to check if there's any event where both the Governor and Mayor will be attending next Saturday. Call me back if you find something."

"Will do," Trowa said before hanging up.

Heero sighed. "Let's just hope this is what we've been looking for."

Usagi moved into his arms. "I know how you feel. I just want all this to be done with."

Heero nodded and placed a light kiss on her forehead.

As time for the Usagi was supposed to attend with Blake on Saturday night wind down, she became more reluctant to leave Heero's side. But she willed herself to go through with their plans. She couldn't mess things up because of her desire to stay locked up in her room with Heero. She sighed wistfully. How she wished she could just do that. But this party tonight was too important for her to miss. According to intel, all the high rollers of mob society would be there and there could be important information to be had concerning, what Usagi called D day, next Saturday's main event. She would be wired this time, so the FBI agents could hear directly what was being said, and see what was happening as well.

"Okay do you remember everything we just went over?" Heero asked Usagi as she adjusted her dress to property cover the wires.

"Yes," she nodded tugging at the hemline. "Look for the people we talked about. If I can confirm their presence then we'll know all the key players. That way we'll not only take out Blake but them as well. Don't leave Duo's sight. And if my cover is blown, find Duo or call you and leave if possible. If Duo's cover is blown, don't freak out. Backup will be on the way. And if all of this goes down as planned we'll have confirmed next Saturday's thingy."

"Thingy?" Heero asked with a raised eyebrow.

She looked at him. "Well, I don't know what else to call it! I don't exactly have a military back ground. What do you want me to call it? D day?"

He chuckled at her tirade. "Call it chicken salad, it doesn't matter."

"Chicken salad? I didn't even know you knew that phrase," Usagi teased.

Heero just shrugged.

"Are you sure it can't be you that's going with me tonight and not Duo?" she pouted pecking him on the lips.

"You know I would if I could," he said catching hold of her and deepening the kiss.

Usagi moaned and moved closer still, eager to have him hold her. But Heero chuckled and pushed her back lightly.

"We both know if you keep kissing me, you're gonna never leave this house."

Usagi grinned. "Tell me again why that isn't such a good idea?"

Heero laughed outright and shook his head. "Come on, Duo should be here any minute."

Usagi grudgingly made her way downstairs. "Fine, but I'll have it noted that I'm doing this against my will."

"Whatever happened to wanting to help?" Heero teased.

"That was before I discovered what a good kisser you are."

"Oh? I now see exactly what you want me for."

Usagi giggled. She liked their easy bantering. "Oh, I want you for more than just kissing."

A knock on the door, interrupted any reply Heero could give and Usagi pursed her lips.

Heero looked out the peep-hole and sure enough it was Duo. He opened the door. Duo greeted them with a smile, which turned appreciative when he glanced at Usagi.

"Lookin' good Usagi," he winked. That earned him a glare and a smack over the head from Heero.

"If you're going to be checking her out the whole time, maybe I should have you replaced," Heero growled.

"Chill man. I got this," Duo replied easily, confidently.

"Let's hope so, because if anything happens to her, kiss your ass goodbye."

Duo gulped when he read all the misery and death promised in Heero's eyes. "Got it." He nodded and got out nervously, "Uh, Usagi I think it's time we headed out. Don't wanna be late and all," before scurrying away to his car.

"Way to inspire fear and loyalty at the same time," Usagi teased.

Heero just rolled his eyes and pulled her in for a quick kiss. "Be careful," he murmured before letting her go.

Duo's silence in the car was amusing. In all the time she had been working with him, she'd never heard him so quiet. "Aw don't let Heero scare you, Duo," she said from the backseat in hopes of bring back his easygoing personality.

"Hard not to," he replied dryly. Usagi just laughed.

"He really isn't all that bad, you know. He's actually quite nice."

"To you maybe."

"You don't really mean that."

Duo sighed. "I guess you're right. He's okay _half of the time_. The other half he scares the shit out of me. The guy is one badass FBI agent. Get on his bad side and like he said, kiss your ass goodbye."

"If he wasn't good at his job, then he wouldn't be saving lives, don't you think? If he was soft around people he wouldn't be getting anything done either. Besides that's the way he grew up. You can't really blame him for that."

"I knew it!" Duo exclaimed, grinning suddenly.

"Knew what?" Usagi asked startled.

"You're doing him! There's no way any woman would come to his defense if you weren't."

Usagi blushed profusely. "Is—is it that obvious?" she stuttered.

"Nah, I just know you guys too well," Duo said, grin still in place.

"Why are you grinning? Isn't it a bad thing for us to be involved right now?"

Duo laughed. "I'm just happy Heero's doing it with someone. He's been too uptight lately. Besides, I like this change," he said glancing at her through the rearview mirror. "He's not as mean as before."

Usagi laughed. "Well, I'm glad I could help."

A half hour later they pulled up in front of Blake's place.

"Do you remember everything Heero told you?" Duo turned around in his seat to look at her.

Usagi nodded her head. "Yep. Nothing to worry about from my end."

"Okay. No we wait for that scumbag to get his ass down here."

"I'm curious, Duo, what's the cover story for why you're here instead of Heero? You know just in case Blake wants to know?"

"You don't have to tell him anything. If he asks just say I showed up instead of Heero to pick you up. If he really wants to know he won't be asking in front of you, so let me worry about that."

Usagi had been hoping to find out the real reason why Heero wasn't here. But no such luck. And before Usagi could ask further questions, Blake was walking down the building steps and into the car.

Heero…

Heero, with Frank in the seat next to him, pulled up alongside the warehouse's guard post, two black SUVs behind him, accompanying him. He rolled down his window and exchanged a few words with the guard in charge. A minute later he was driving through the opened gates, stopping once again before driving into the warehouse when its doors were opened. He cut the car off, checked to make sure his gun was secure and that his leather jacket did a good enough job to conceal it, before nodding to Frank to exit the car.

One SUV had stayed outside, while the passengers of the other were already out and waiting his orders.

"Stay here," he told the four men, "and wait for my mark." He gestured for Frank to follow him.

The real reason he was not with Usagi tonight was because he was doing a weapons pickup for Blake. He suspected the weapons he were going to exchange twenty million dollars for, were going to be used in Blake's attack against the Mayor and Governor. If they indeed were, he needed to be here to check out what the weapons were so he could give his team a heads up against what they were dealing with. Blake had pulled him aside the other day and had told him he wanted Heero to specifically do this, since he knew Heero to be somewhat of a weapons specialist. Heero had known if he told Usagi he was doing something for Blake, she would have told Blake that she wanted him with her. But he couldn't have passed on this opportunity, and he would never have accepted if he knew he couldn't get something he trusted to watch Usagi's back. And he could rest easy knowing it was Duo. Even though he gave Duo hell sometimes, he still trusted Duo with his life, and that was saying something.

"Why aren't we bringing the case with us?" Frank asked under his breath as he and Heero approached three figures dressed in black and waiting next to a table, black cases tacked around them.

"We need to see the merchandise before we hand over the dough. Or else they can just shoot us and take the money," Heero muttered.

Frank just nodded in response.

Heero knew that the building was secured by a whole mobster army and didn't want to seem afraid by bring in an answering army of men with him. He wanted to appear confident, not cowed, so he had left a detail of men outside and only brought in the fewest necessary.

They quickly closed the space between themselves and the other three men, a grim look on Heero's face, but he didn't give a single emotion away. He now stood in front the men, and immediately singled out the leader of the bunch. He was obviously older than the other two, bald, and sported a mean looking dragon tattoo on his arm. But the look on his face was congenial and so was his voice when he addressed them.

"Men! Welcome! It's always good to do business with Blake. How is he these days?" the leader asked extending his hand for a shake.

Heero nodded and grasped his hand firmly. "He's up to no good like usual," Heero replied.

This caused the man to laugh. "Typical. And that's one firm grip you've got there. The name's Slade by the way. Yours?"

"Heero," Heero replied and then pointed next to him. "Frank."

"A man of few words, I see." Slade replied, "You must want to get down to business then?"

Heero gave a brisk nod and followed Slade when he motioned to follow. Slade instructed his men to open the cases and Heero began to examine the weapons, muttering a few words here and there to indicate he knew what he was seeing. He saw sniper and assault rifles, revolvers, pistols, shotguns, machines guns, grenades and lots of C4.

Heero was naturally alarmed. This alone would be able to put away Blake, but not for long. It was no wonder street crime was increasing when you had a man like Blake funding weapons like these. What shocked him most were the rifles and grenades. What would thugs need those for? But that aside, the rest of the equipment were found on Blake's men all the time, minus the C4. The C4s were probably were going to be set up in the building the party was going to be hosted. Probably staging it in such a way that it would look like terrorists had done it, so Blake wouldn't face any kind of heat from the Feds. But boy was he going to be in for a surprise.

After Heero finished inspecting the weapons, he gestured over to his men by the SUV. As instructed, two of them proceeded over with two black cases—filled with money. They laid them on the table, opened them and swiveled the cases to face Slade.

"Twenty million. Check it if you want." Heero said in a tone that said to challenge his words if they dared.

Slade just laughed. "No need for that. Blake and I have an understanding." His words were laced with no uncertain malevolence.

"You don't get the cash till all of this is stored in the car. Nothing personal."

"Heero, mah man! Don't sweat it. Whatever you like. Just as long as I get my money, we'll both be happy," Slade said.

Motioning over the rest of his men, Heero kept a watchful eye on the proceedings. In no time the rest had placed all of the weapons in the SUV and the one waiting outside. And as promised, Heero handed over the money.

"Nice doing business," Slade said shaking his hand when the exchange was done. "Tell Blake to do share his needs again."

Heero nodded and retreated to his car, Frank in tow. He made sure the two SUVs left before he did and soon they were on their way. It wasn't until they were miles away that Heero let out a sigh of relief. He was glad things hadn't got nasty. A gun fight had not been on his agenda tonight, and he was relieved he was spared having to take any lives. But boy was Slade going to be in for a surprise. The money in the cases had been real alright, and so was the tracking device built into the cases. The Feds were no doubt busting down the door to that place, arresting Slade and his thugs. Heero was glad there would be one less weapons supplier out there making the streets more dangerous. With that thought, he settled in for the three hour ride back to Blake's storage house.

Usagi…

The party proved to be like any other with lots of drinking, dancing and beautiful women. And Usagi made sure to always have Duo in her sights. But no tragedy befell them though. The night passed without incident. She was however able to identify bad guys. All of the one's in Heero's profile book were there, which told them a great deal. Things were definitely winding down.

"I'll be right back," Blake murmured into Usagi's ear when the party was in full swing.

"Where are you going?" She asked him putting on a sadden face.

"I won't be long, I promise. I just have to see some men bout something. Why don't you wait over by the bar for me?" Blake suggested.

"Blake, you can't leave me! I don't know anyone here. Besides I don't like the look some of these guys are giving me. They'll definitely want to talk to me and then you'll get angry with me afterwards," she remarked persuasively, then added a pout for good measure.

Blake looked thoughtful for a second.

"And please don't even think about leaving me with one of your men. Just the other day Jacob made a really obscene remark at me. Heero had to slap some sense into him."

Blake's face tightened in anger just like she knew it would. After spending so much time with him, she knew which buttons to push to get him to respond to how she wanted. Called her manipulative, but it got results.

"Fine, let's go. But you better not make a sound when we get there," he instructed her, leading her away by the arm.

Usagi made quick eye contact with Duo. Even though he was standing a ways away he could still here every conversation she had, thanks to the wire they'd placed on her. They both knew the danger it posed for her to be away from him in a room he couldn't monitor her in and if anything went wrong Heero would surely kill him. But this was also a big opportunity for them. These men could very well possibly be discussing Blake's attack next Saturday. It was a risk they had to take. Duo nodded his head discreetly and she returned the gesture equally as discreet.

The room she and Blake entered was just off the main floor where the party was being held in. Apparently he was the last to get there because the nine of the ten seats situated in the room were already taken. Usagi was also the only female present there as well, which did make her feel uncomfortable, especially since as soon as she walked in all eyes turned to them and then to her. Some gazes were curious, others confused, yet more still looked shocked. But no one questioned why she was there. These men probably knew better than to question Blake. But one man had probably never learned that lesson and made the mistake of asking Blake if he had brought a toy for them to play with. That guy ended up with a bullet through his head. If Usagi had ever doubted how much Blake truly cared about her, she had just found out her answer.

She had seen Mamoru shot and killed, but she'd never seen anyone shot through the head, and it was a frightening reality. Usagi felt queasy and light headed. She wanted to scream, but remembered what Blake had said about not making any sound, and fought to keep quiet.

"Anyone has anything else to say about my woman?" Blake asked frostily.

Silence met him. "Then we can get on with this."

The man's body was quickly taken away and any blood that might have remained was cleaned just ask quickly. Maybe it was a sign of how unaffected Blake was about killing a man because he sat in the dead guy's chair without so much as a look of regret and motioned for Usagi to sit in the empty chair next to him.

Usagi squirmed inside and fought to keep control of her gagging reflexes. What have I gotten myself into here? She asked herself. Duo was probably freaking about that gunshot, but he had to know that she was alright at least she wished he did. She didn't want him busting through the doors and blowing all of their covers. She fought for calm.

While the men talked about what they had all gathered for and not wanting to be suspect, Usagi perfected a nonchalant air, inspecting her nails, then split ends, then taking a chance by getting up to fix Blake and herself a drink, and then staring off into space, all the while listening intently to what they were saying. And boy, were they saying a lot. Within no time Usagi found out about the extent of Blake's plan. Not only was he targeting the Mayor and Governor but also some other prominent people as well, and their families. Surely an attack like this would cause widespread mayhem and panic, which was exactly what Blake and these other men were hoping for. But their plans extended much farther than that. They would set the attack up to make it look like terrorists had done it, causing further panic _and_ political unrest, which would no doubt redouble the US's attack in say, those foreign countries they were battling terrorism in. And unbeknownst to the US, Blake and some of the other men in this room were raking in money by supporting those terrorists. That had been a lot for Usagi to take in and absorb, and no doubt the agents listening into this conversation were having a field day with this information. It made preventing Blake's plan from taking hold. It was vital that none of this to become a success. But what Usagi found perplexing was why Blake wanted to support the terrorists at all. He gave no hint in his conversation and Usagi was left clueless.

By the end of the meeting, Usagi's head had ended up on Blake's shoulders, where she had been pretending to look tired and bleary eyed. Her head was swimming with information. They had found out all they had wanted to know, time, place, everything. All that they had to do was nip this thing in the bud before any of it could be followed through on. Usagi just hoped that these FBI agents would take this information and use it to save all the lives that were going to be ruined.

While leaving the room and walking back to the main floor Usagi muttered, "Well that was boring. I might have stayed by myself."

Blake like always humored her and chuckled. "Maybe. But having you there definitely kept it civilized," he said as they returned to the party room. The party was still in full swing. But then he turned serious. "I hope you won't say a word about what you heard back there."

Usagi panicked for a heartbeat and already felt guilty since everything he had discussed federal agents knew about. But she countered well. "Even if I had managed to remember anything from that boring conversation I wouldn't want to bore someone else to death with it. Besides," she said, pulling him closer, "I couldn't help but admire how absolutely handsome you look in this tux." She ran her hands up and down his chest and placed a light kiss on his lips, pulling back before he could get a hold on her and continued with her ploy. She touched his hair, smoothing it back, pretending to look completely enamored by him. "You have no idea how much I resisted wanting to kiss you, and now that I have you all to myself," she whispered huskily, "I'm going to do just that." And she kissed him hard then, effectively erasing any suspicion she would share his secret and allowed him to draw her closer to him.

"God," Blake groaned kissing her, "there's nottin' more I wanna do that press myself into you."

Ew, Usagi thought and shudder, which Blake took for a shiver of delight, deepening the kiss even more, his hands all over her body. Usagi wanted to be anywhere but here, doing this with her Prussian eyed hero instead, but told herself to endure for a little while longer. It's all going to be over soon, was her mantra and she repeated it over and over again in her head. But as far as Blake was concerned, he wanted to heat things up even more and Usagi started to panic. Searching for Duo franticly and finally catching his gaze, her eyes pleaded for him to do something.

"Hey—hey," she murmured pushing Blake back lightly, "we shouldn't be doing this kind of thing here."

Blake nodded. "You're right." Taking her hand he said, "We're leaving."

Crap! Usagi thought. Now what was she going to do? She had probably just dug a deeper hole for herself. But luckily Duo came to her rescue, in the form of Heero on the phone.

"Boss," Duo called walking up. "Sorry to interrupt, but its Heero. Says it's important," he said handing over the cell phone. Blake took it and turned his back to them walking a little distance away.

Usagi shot him a grateful look and Duo grinned in return mouthing 'great job' to her. She smiled but quickly lost it when Blake returned.

"Seems like want I had planned for us is going to have to wait, my sweet," he told Usagi disappointment lacing his voice. Usagi however was relieved. But pretend to be disheartened as well.

"Work is always coming in the way between us," she said looking angry.

"I know, but soon, soon we'll get time for ourselves," he replied caressing her cheek. Then he turned to Duo. "Take her home," he instructed. He kissed Usagi goodbye and was on his way.

Usagi let out a huge sigh. "God, you have no idea how much I want this night to end."

"It will. Let's get you home," Duo told her with a small smile.

"Thanks. I need to scrub myself from head to toe when I get home."

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading! Comments are welcomed! ^_^


	10. Love & Suspicion

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who reads my fics. I've got new motivation to finish this one and continue with the others or maybe just squash them and start on new ones. Maybe? OOC warning! Enjoy reading.

_Save Me_

By: Wicked Tenshi

Chapter 10: Love & Suspicion

"I heard what you did at the party," Heero told Usagi two days later when he came to pick her up to take her to her morning job.

For a moment Usagi was raked with guilt having thought he found about her make out session with Blake, but the look in Heero's eyes said he was talking about the other thing she had done.

His eyes held the utmost concern for her wellbeing, which meant he had heard about her braving being in a room with Blake and some of the world's most deadly men. He had also probably heard about how she had gotten Blake to let her sit with him, she had been proud of herself for achieving that feat and hoped that Heero would be as well.

"Are you angry with me for doing it?" she asked tentatively, watching for his reply closely.

Heero just sighed and pulled her into a tight hug, which she returned. "Yes and no." He told her.

"Yes and no?" Usagi queried, mumbling the words into his chest, wanting to know his reasoning, wanting to hear him confirm his feelings for her.

He gave another sigh. "Yes, because you could have been hurt… or worse. I can't believe you would have gone in there blind like that. And when Duo told me," he shook his head. "I would have blown my cover if I'd allowed myself to come to you."

Usagi smiled into his chest.

"No because what you did was brave. You single handedly turned this thing around and got us all the information we needed to take this guy out. I'm proud of you," he finished placing a gentle kiss onto of her head.

"Thank you," she told him. "I wanted to do it for you."

Heero inhaled sharply and moved her back so he could look her in the face, eyes searching. "Why?"

She was going to do it. She was going to tell him. "Because—well, because I love you."

Heero was lost into oblivion as her words sunk in. She loved him? How could anyone love him? Could he love anyone in return? The answer came quickly to him. Yes. Yes, he could. The moment Duo had told him she had walked into that room, he had immediately wanted to change course. He had wanted to let Frank finish the job for him and run to her side. He had been so fearful for her safety. His mind had been plagued with worse case scenarios and what if questions, the most torturing of all was: what if she died? He couldn't have handled that possibility, had adamantly refused to even let his mind wonder down that path. Something would have died in him if anything happened to her, that he was sure of. He would lose a piece of himself if she ever left this world, and his desire to protect her had become overwhelming. But then Duo had sworn on his life that he would not let anything happen to her, and that was when he had calmed down enough to let the gravity of the situation sink in and the ramifications of his actions if he were to blow his cover.

He had wanted to rush to her the day after but the information she had retrieved had been the motherload of all intel they could have possibly received. It was what he had his other agents had been waiting for and they had spent the whole day pouring over all of that information, cross-referencing the information Usagi had gotten with their own. They had been able to confirm that both the Governor and Mayor, as well as several other important people would be attending a charity ball at the Ritz Carlton, Battery Park this coming Saturday. Combined with the knowledge Heero had of the weapons that Blake had purchased, they could pretty much figure out how his plan would be executed. They had done some inquiry as to which of the hotel's venues the ball would be taking in place, the Manhattan Ballroom, it turned out to be. It would be challenging for Blake to try something in there, but he was a well connect man and had no doubt done extensive research for his plans.

Heero and his team figured that Blake would probably place bombs, made out of the C4 he had recently purchased, at strategic areas in room. He would also have his men undercover and placed throughout the room to bully the crowd if need be. And on and on the possibilities went and as far as Heero was concerned there were too many for his taste. But they all had to be prepared. For a high rolling crowd such as this one and at such a prestigious hotel, a complete search of the place before the attendees arrived would no doubt be I order, and Heero's team would personally be in charge of that. Even if they secured the place, Blake could still have his men set things up after. The odds were harrowing. Heero just wished they'd be able to stop Blake before anyone got hurt.

All through this planning Heero's mind had been raked with thoughts of her, sometimes making it impossible to concentrate. And this morning he had been so relieved when he laid eyes on her and didn't see a scratch. He thanked God. Another first for him.

He looked at his angel, her eyes shining with the intensity of her emotions, and kissed her. Deeply. Passionately. Tenderly. Lovingly.

When they came apart for air, Usagi was breathless and amazed. He had never kissed her like that before. And WOW had it been a kiss. She looked at him questioningly. But he just cradled her face between his palms and smiled at her. The most radiant, handsome, soul searing, smile she had ever seen on his face.

"I love you too," he told her kissing her again with the as much intensity as he could. And Usagi was lost. Floating on a cloud. Surely, surely she must died and gone to heaven.

After their admissions, they did not hesitate to show each other exactly how much they truly loved the other. Clothing quickly came off. Tender sighs, words and moans filled the house. It wasn't until hours later they realized that Usagi was beyond late for work.

"Come on you can still make it," Heero told her about to get up from the bed. But Usagi was most certainly not in the mood to go to work. She grabbed hold of his hand, stilling him, and holding up a finger to him to be quiet she reached over to her night stand, picked up her phone and called the agency she worked with.

"Hey Rei. It's Usagi." She listened. "No I'm not okay." She listened again. "No, I won't be able to make it into work today. Thanks." And with that Usagi hung up, and just like that all of their worries about her being late for work disappeared. Her eyes returned to Heero and she grinned, pulling him back to her.

"We're not leaving this bed, till I say so," she growled playfully nibbling his earlobe.

Heero chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of arguing with you."

Across town…

Jacob lounging on a couch in the small apartment he and Frank shared, with Frank next to him reading the newspaper—very un-thug like—was still smarting over being chastised by Heero all those nights ago. Dangerous thoughts were forming in his head, some he gave voice to.

"I'm starting to suspect Yuy, man," Jacob said.

Frank sighed and replied not looking up from the paper. "Not this again man. Just drop it. Heero is one of us. End of story."

"No he's not. My gut is tellin' me he ain't man, trust me."

Frank emitted another exasperated sigh and turned to look at Jacob this time. "And what he done that got you sus?"

"The way he's so protective of Blake's little squeeze, for one."

"It's his job. If he ain't so protective, Blake would have his ass if anything happened to her."

Jacob took this into consideration. "Speakin' of which I think there's something going on between them two. You saw the way he was flirtin' with her the other night? What's up with dat?"

"Yo, man, don't go diggin' up dirt where there ain't none. We all know about the Boss's rules when it comes to his women. Heero would be a dead man to even think about gettin' it on with the Boss's chick."

"Maybe they're doin' it in secret," Blake said gradually getting more and more excited by the thought of finding some kind of dirt on Heero. "They spend mad time together!"

"Nah," Frank said rejecting this theory. "Heero isn't the type. I don't think I've seen him look at a woman. The guy is mad focused. Besides I think women are intimidated by him. I sure as hell am." He laughed.

Dejected, Jacob muttered a few incomprehensible words and settled back into the chair. Frank went back to reading. But a few minutes later the paper was ripped out of his hand. Surprise filtered through him as he looked at Jacob as if he was crazy.

"What the fuck you did that for?" Frank exclaimed.

"I got it!"

Frank groaned. "Not this shit again!"

"You heard how the warehouse you and Yuy went to the other night was raided by dem cops after you guys left?" Jacob asked him. He was just making the connections himself.

Frank stared at him in disbelief but then his expression changed into disgust.

"And you think that Heero had somethin' to do with dat?" Frank deadpanned.

Jacob nodded slowly as he got his thoughts together. "How else would the cops know to raid the place? Somebody had to tip em' off."

"It could have been anybody, man! You just got it in for Heero that's why you suspectin' him. Besides," Frank said logically, "assumin' Heero was a cop, why would he get dem to raid the place after we left with all the weapons? Wouldn't it make more sense if he was a cop to stop whole damn thing from takin' place in the first place?"

This seemed to through Jacob off. Frank did have a valid point. Any cop wouldn't have wanted any of those weapons to leave the warehouse and if Heero was a cop he had just let twenty million dollars worth of weapons out onto the street. Crestfallen, Jacob settled back into his seat once more and Frank took that as a sign of his surrender on the topic. He sighed in relief…

Heero…

It was later during the week when Heero broke the news to Usagi, and suffice to say she wasn't happy about what she was hearing.

"Usa, don't argue with me, please. I don't want you to be around any kind of danger. This is for the best."

It seemed, to Usagi, that the only time Heero ever spoke so much was when he was ordering her around for her own safety. And although she loved hearing his voice, right now it was only irritating her.

"No, I'm not leaving you," she said stubbornly. "You can't just chuck me aside now that you've used me to get your information. I'm seeing this through."

Heero ran a hand through his hair, and exasperated sigh leaving his lips. They had been discussing this matter for almost twenty minutes now and she still wasn't seeing reason.

"Look," he said. "This isn't about chucking," he made a face at the word, "you aside, it's for your own protection. You did your job, now let me do mine."

"No—"

"I don't want to leave you either, but can you at least try to see this from my point of view?"

Usagi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"If I know you're with Quatra, I'll know you'll be safe. I won't have to worry about protecting you, not when all of my attention is going to be focused on stopping Blake. If I have to split that focus things can go wrong."

Usagi hadn't thought about that but she was still upset and his words stung her, irrationally as it may be. The way her mind interpreted his words was that she was going to be a distraction if she went to the party on Saturday. Deep down she knew he only wanted her to be safe so he could concentrate on his job, but she wanted to be by his side so badly and she wanted to help him, she knew she could. But he didn't want her help anymore.

"Fine, I won't go, but I'm not going to Quatra's house either."

Heero shut his eyes in frustration. She was so stubborn. He opened his mouth to refute her but he didn't get a chance, she cut him off.

"It's a fair compromise," she said determined to have her way, one way or the other. "You won't have to worry about me. I'll be safe here. You can even leave someone to guard me."

Heero sighed in defeat. He noticed he was sighing a lot these days and sighed again. He had to stop that. He would turn old and gray before his time if he lost patience with her all the time.

When they had found out that Blake was planning on attending the party, as preposterous as it seemed, and invited Usagi to accompany him, Heero had immediately seen the risks involved if he let her attend the party and didn't want her to go at all, but Usagi wouldn't agreed with him. He was just relieved they had come to an agreement now, albeit he still wasn't happy about the compromise. So it was decided that she would stay at her house, while he and his men set out to sabotage Blake's sinister plans. He would still worry about her, but at least he would know she wasn't in any immediate danger.

Heero pulled her in for a hug and she returned it, resting her cheek on his chest. "You know we've never argued like this before," he muttered.

"You know they say make up sex is the best," Usagi replied matter-of-factly after a moment.

Heero couldn't help but laugh. "There's only one way to find out then," he said before moving in for a kiss.

And unbeknownst to them, someone positioned just outside the house, was secretly taking photographs as the couple shared their passionate kisses…

**Author's Note:** Sorry this chapter was shorter than the others, but I just wanted to dedicate it to Heero and Usagi confessing their feelings for one another, even though I threw in some other details. Thanks for reading and don't forget to tell me what you think! ^_^


	11. D-Day

**Author's Note:** First, let me apologize for delaying to update this story. I know I said I had new motivation to finish this, but the time just ran away from me… Second, I know there are a few people who still read this, so finishing this story is dedicated to you, especially Nerf-or-Nothing. You can thank her for this update! And third, happy reading!

_**Save Me**_

**By: Wicked Tenshi**

**Chapter 11: D Day**

The images that Jacob was seeing through his view finder were more than enough to send his mood sky high. He chuckled darkly to himself. Now, now he had proof of the slime bag that Heero really was. It wasn't exactly what he had been looking to find, say like him talking to cops, but it would have to do. Blake's golden boy was going down and he had the proof to present to Blake himself. Jacob smiled to himself. He couldn't wait to shove this in Frank's face as well…

_Usagi…_

"No sweetie, I'm sorry but I can't make it," Usagi said faking a cough into the phone. She was home 'sick' from her morning job and would be doing the same for her night shift as well. Right now she was just trying to convince "Blake" she was sick and couldn't make it to the party tonight, while Heero listened.

"I haven't been feeling well for the past few days, you know that. Things just took a turn for the worst today," she said turning away from Heero. She wasn't really talking to Blake and she didn't want Heero to see the deception in her eyes. "I'm really sorry I can't go with you. I'll miss you too." She sighed and hung up.

"Well, it's done," she said turning back to Heero, careful to keep her tone neutral.

Heero nodded his head. "Good. Trowa will be outside in an unmarked car keeping an eye on you."

It was Usagi's turn to nod.

"Alright. I'm leaving now," he said and placed a light kiss on her forehead.

After Heero left, Usagi didn't know what to do with herself. She had her plan all mapped out, she just needed to kill time. And while she sat around doing nothing, guilt ate her up. She shouldn't have lied to Heero, he might never trust her again, but this was something she had to do. She had to be there when they took Blake down; she owed it to herself, her mother and most of all her father.

A few hours later, Usagi looked at the clock, it was four p.m. That gave her two hours to get things done. She had stored Trowa's number into her cell phone earlier when he had come into the house to check on her, and now she dialed it.

"Is everything alright?" Came the buzz of his voice through the phone.

"Yes and no," she replied.

"Meaning…?"

"Meaning I'm fine, but I have nothing to do in this house, except sit and watch the paint peel off the walls. Its riveting and all, but can you take me to the mall?"

Trowa gave a light chuckle. "I don't see any harm in that." He said.

Twenty minutes later and they were at the nearest mall, busy with weekend shoppers. It would be easy to do what she had planned. She would pretend to shop, buy a few things to make it look more convincing and when she saw an opening she would make a run for it.

"You know you don't have to keep such a close eye on me, you can go do some shopping if you want. I have your number if I get into trouble," she said as convincingly as she could.

Trowa just shook his head and when he didn't give any further response, Usagi sighed and shrugged. What was with the strong silent types anyway she thought. Heero, Trowa? It must be an occupational thing.

"Okay I wanna go to H&M first," she said and marched off in that direction. Trowa followed.

Usagi only spent a few minutes in the store, picking out some accessories and then moved on to a shoe store close by. She bought a pair of red pumps she just couldn't resist and soon left that store too. She entered a few other stores but left without purchasing anything, hoping to annoy Trowa and get him to slack off. No such luck. But her mind was quickly forming another plan.

She entered a clothing store a friend of hers worked in. Luckily for her Minako was on duty. She approached her friend who was a sales associate and was currently working on assisting customers on the floor. When Minako caught sight of her, they erupted into delighted squeals and hugged.

"Wow, Usa, I haven't seen you in a while," Minako said somewhat sadly, but glad to see her long time friend.

"I know," Usagi said dryly, "I've been busy with work." She knew Trowa was in the store, keeping an eye on her, but he looked so out of place, perfect for what she had in mind, she even felt a little bad for what she would do.

"Hey, I'm looking for some jeans. It's kinda urgent," Usagi told Minako before they could get caught up in catching up.

"Uh sure," Minako said having been caught off guard at Usagi's sudden change.

"Thanks, Mina," Usagi beamed, and just like that Mina brushed off the awkward feeling.

"Do you have anything in mind?" Minako asked.

"Well it's for work tonight. We have a special event going on and I need something nice and flashy."

"Hmm, I think I have the perfect one in mind," Mina remarked with a smile.

Usagi laughed. "Great! But no sequins please!"

"Got it!" Mina laughed. "I'll be right back. Size five, right?"

Usagi nodded her head. Mina left, only to return with three pairs of jeans a few minutes later. She held them out one by one so Usagi could choose the one she liked best.

"Wow, they're all so cute," Usagi said fingering a gold pair, but when she saw the price she knew she didn't want to spend so much money on it. She checked the price of the shinny blue pair with some silver swirls and said she wanted to try it on. This one was definitely within her price range. While she tried it on Minako waited by the door and Usagi made small talk.

"Sorry, if I sounded like I didn't want to catch up with you earlier," she apologized, "but I've been doing very last minute shopping."

"It's okay. You're in a hurry. I understand."

Usagi sighed with relief. "Thanks Minako."

"Perfect!" Minako beamed when Usagi emerged from her changing room.

"Really? You think so?" she asked, looking at herself this way and that in the mirror.

"Absolutely," Mina gushed. "Makes your butt look awesome!"

Usagi giggled. Mina had a point there and indeed the jeans were very flattering. Too bad she'd probably never see them or ever get to wear them.

"Okay, I'll take it!" she said. "Ring me up."

Mina nodded and they walked to the cash register. As Usagi paid for the jeans her eyes sought out Trowa and she mumbled, "Shoot!" when she found him. He was standing off to the left looking at the limited men's wear the store offered.

"What's wrong?" Mina asked Usagi when she saw the look on her friend's face.

"There's a guy in there that's been following me around," Usagi whispered.

Naturally, Minako looked alarmed. "Are you sure?"

Usagi nodded emphatically. "Yeah. Been following me since I got to the mall. Been in every store too."

"I'm going to call security," Mina growled about to march off. Usagi grabbed her hand.

"No!" She said quickly. "I don't want to cause a scene—"

"But if he's following you he can be dangerous," Mina reasoned.

Usagi shook her head. "He seems harmless. I think he just wants to talk to me. Get my number. That sort of thing. If I could only leave without him noticing…" she murmured looking around hoping Mina would take the hint.

There was a frown on Mina's face, but she seemed to take the bait. "There's an employee exit in back you could use…"

"Are you sure?" Usagi asked hopefully.

Mina nodded. "It'll take you down some stairs to the main floor. You can catch a cab right outside to go where you want from there."

Usagi hugged Mina. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Grinning, Mina said, "Anything for you babe."

That was how forty five minutes later Usagi arrived at the Blake's place, sans Trowa being the wiser.

"You're late," Blake said when he saw her.

"I know, I know," she brushed him off. "Traffic was a bitch."

"Hurry and get dressed. The stylist is waiting for you," Blake told her, seemingly too preoccupied to make conversation with her.

"Sure thing," she said before pecking him on the cheek and rushing off to get dressed.

An hour later Usagi was as decked out as any Hollywood starlet attending a movie award ceremony. Her cream Chanel dress was a show stopper, simple in design but exposing her blemish free skin in all the right places. The dress for form fitting, her entire back and arms exposed, while most of her front was covered except for a hint of cleavage and the slit running up her leg right thigh. Her gold heels and clutch the only thing adding a splash of color to her ensemble. Her hair was left loose, combed to shinning perfection.

When she emerged from her room, Blake's eyes immediately snapped to her. He took in her perfection slowly, his eyes roving her from head to toe before coming to settle on her face again. He picked up a box off of side table and made his way over to her.

"I like the dress," he breathed when he was in front of her. He caressed her cheek. "And minimal makeup. You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Usagi said, trying not to blush from the way he was looking at her. "You don't look too bad yourself," she teased. And he didn't. Dressed in a black three piece suit he looked every bit the kingpin he was.

"Here, I have a present for you," he told her opening the box he was holding. It opened to reveal diamond earrings and matching necklace.

Usagi breathed in an astonished breath, her eyes snapping to his. "I—I can't accept these," she said.

"Of course you can. Tonight is a very important night for me and I'm feeling very generous," he grinned cockily at her taking the necklace and placing it around her neck.

Usagi's fingers immediately went to her throat touching the cool gem resting against her suddenly over heating skin.

"It's beautiful," she said, "thank you. I'd kiss you but I don't want to ruin my lipstick."

Blake chuckled and settled for kissing her forehead. "Don't worry about it babe. Are you ready to leave?"

She was definitely out of her element here. Sure she was used to him spoiling her, but diamonds? That was on a whole other league. Maybe she shouldn't have come here and heeded Heero's instructions. But it was too late to back out now.

"Yes," she said taking the arm he offered. The time to get this show on the road was finally here. But Usagi couldn't shake the harrowing feeling plaguing her of what would happen when Heero saw her walking through the doors on Blake's arm. He would be livid.

"Come on then," Blake said pulling her along to the elevator.

All she could do was nod, she felt so numb inside.

The drive to the hotel was quiet. Blake seemed lost in his thoughts, probably cackling in his head about his big plans for tonight. How could a person be so evil? Usagi thought. But such evil would be rid of soon enough. If… No. _When_ they succeeded tonight, Blake and his accomplices would be put away and the streets of New York would be a lot safer. Families would no longer have to live in fear of mobster debt collectors. And Usagi, she could get on with her life. Without having to pay off her father's debts, maybe she'll use the money to go to college and get a degree. Get a well paying job and move out of that house, that neighborhood and take her mother with her. It was those thoughts, those aspirations – hopes that drove her forward.

Usagi vowed to see this night through and live to know a better life. She prayed with all her might, that if there was a God that he only need let everything go right and just leave the hard part up to Heero and his team. Heero, she thought, he had to forgive her for tonight or she would never be able to live with herself.

_Meanwhile…_

Heero was dressed in a sleek black tuxedo, messy brown hair combed and styled for once. He was on both clocks and he needed to play his role better than he had ever had to. He just couldn't allow anything to go wrong. He was with Blake's men now, but earlier he had walked his team through an exhausted search of the whole ballroom and surrounding floors. But there was no searching the entire hotel as he would have liked. There were simply too many floors and too many guests for things not to get suspicious. Blake's men had already been keeping an eye on the place for over a week, so a sudden insurgent of cops would definitely tip them off that the feds were on their tail. So the situation had to be treated delicately. Most of his men were in plain clothes and checked into the hotel as guests. The hotel usually employed it's owe security with some added protection from the local police and Blake had factored that into his plans and so had Heero. He had replaced the hotel's security with his own and brought in more sophisticated equipment to scan the guests. But that didn't eliminate the possibility that Blake already had the explosives in the hotel. There were simply too many unaccounted factors than Heero was comfortable with. But he was be damned if he didn't do everything in his power to protect every innocent person in that room.

Sure, they could have called off the event, but when would they ever get a chance like this to catch Blake and his crooks? Besides there was a Plan B in case things went south. If the situation escalated too quickly out of hand, they would pull the plug on the operation. They couldn't every well have the Governor and Mayor killed after all. He would lose more than just his job if that ever happened.

But as of right now, he just hoped and prayed that everything went according to plan. His men would find the explosives, defuse them, and watch as everything fell apart in front of Blake's face. The asshole was already messing up in attending the party. He was putting himself at the scene of the crime after all. But he was just too damn cocky for his own good. And maybe his conceited ways was what would bring about the bastard's downfall.

It was almost eight and many of the guests had already arrived. The Governor and Mayor were already there, fully aware of the situation and were mingling, but keeping a close distance to their respective security personnel. That was good. Heero was doing another sweep of the room when his cell phone buzzed. It was Tyrone.

"The Boss is on his way up," the burly pea brain told Heero.

"Got it," Heero replied and hung up. His body instantly became tenser with that news. He was wired tonight, but it was almost virtually untraceable, so his team would also be privy what was going on with him. They knew what they had to do once Blake arrived and Heero trusted in them not to mess up.

He made his way carefully towards the entrance which Blake would be entering through. What he however hadn't expected was to see a very familiar blonde on his arm.

**Author's Note:** I know its short, but that's it for now. Hoped you enjoyed reading the chapter though =)


	12. Not Part of the Plan

**Author's Note: **So here's another update for you. Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter! I hope you enjoy reading this one too =)

_**Save Me**_

**By: Wicked Tenshi**

**Chapter 12: Not Part of the Plan**

Usagi's eyes found Heero before he even knew she was in the room. He was in profile and on his cell phone. He looked so handsome in his tux, so commanding, and his hair was combed and styled for once! Usagi just wanted to walk up to him and kiss him so deeply he would never doubt her feelings for him again. But the moment was lost when his eyes met hers.

As soon as Heero spotted Usagi on Blake's arm he wanted to hurt somebody, _badly_. What the bloody hell was she doing here? She was supposed to be home, with Trowa, where it would be _safe_. But somehow he knew that she was here of her own free will. This stubborn, stubborn, beautiful woman! She would definitely be the end of him. But how could he not notice how radiant she looked in that cream dress. She looked like every bit the angel he thought she was. But he had to take calming breathes as he tried not to march over to her, sock Blake in the face and then drag her the hell home, where he would give her a tongue lashing, as well as punish her in other more sensuous ways.

This was exactly the reason he didn't want her here. Now he was going to worry about her well being above everyone else's and try to keep his libido under control, and somehow not screw up the whole job in the process. God, that couldn't happen. His mind was whirling with the possibilities of what he could possibly do to rectify this situation. But before he could come up with a solution, Blake was in front of him.

"You clean up well, Yuy," Blake smirked at him.

Heero just wanted to punch him in the face.

"Hn," was Heero's response. And he dared not look at Usagi, least the urge to strangle her overwhelmed the need to kiss her.

"I trust everything is going well?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow.

Heero didn't bother sugar coating his words. "I wouldn't know since you didn't tell me anything."

"And there's a good reason for that," Blake remarked. "Didn't want you getting ahead of yourself. Tyrone is waiting for you in the Liberty Suite. He'll have your next assignment."

"Hn." What was this new development? All Heero had been informed of initially was that he was going to be part of Blake's security detail. Now he was supposed to do something else? He tried not to get ahead of himself. He was still however angry and that helped with an added boost of adrenaline. Before he walked away he shot Usagi a loaded look, he didn't care how drop dead gorgeous she looked. He was pissed as hell and he wanted her to know he was angry.

Usagi cringed inside at Heero's parting look. He was angry alright. And she could berate herself up one side and down the other, but she had to do this. She wanted to see the look on Blake's face when his world crumbled in front of him. Then, and only then she would be at peace. She wanted to see with her own two eyes the end of him. Sick and tired she was of having to live in constant fear. And secretly she knew she would kill him if the situation ever arose. Every one of his touch had stolen a bit more of her innocence. His presence alone was like a curse that needed to be broken. And so help her God, she would take Heero's wrath any day if meant she could live freely.

While Heero's exit made her feel uneasy and unguarded, the small revolved strapped to her thigh lent her some strength. Heero had given it to her when they had first begun this whole charade and he'd also taught her how to use it. She had a fair aim and was confident enough she could use her training if the need should arise. But that didn't mean it was comfortable. She was sure her skin was chaffing already. She was glad while the bodice of her dress was form fitting, there was some flare to the skirt else she wouldn't have risked it. But she knew she could pull off a self defense lie if Blake noticed it. After all he was pretty damn strict when it came to her safety.

"Why don't you go mingle for a bit, babe?" Blake said to her. She noticed he'd catch the eye of an older gentleman across the room.

Crap, she thought, this was probably going to be the start. "Okay," she nodded and headed to the general direction of the bar. She was suddenly very thirsty. But before she got too far he pulled her back gently and laid a kiss on her lips.

"Don't go too far," he breathed. "We might have to leave soon."

Shit, this was it Usagi thought. Where the hell was Heero?

"Okay," she purred and walked away.

As she walked towards the bar Usagi thought she saw Duo. Is that Duo over by that window? Usagi went to investigate. It was Duo. He actually looked quite polished in his dinner suit. But the look on his face suggested he'd seen a ghost.

"What are you doing?" he hissed when he saw her, quickly casting a stealthy look around.

"Blake said to mingle, so I'm mingling," she replied, with feigned innocence.

"I mean what are you doing _here_?" he replied not one bit taken with her act.

"I'm helping," Usagi returned with a hard look.

"Helping to mess things up maybe."

"What's your problem? I'm the reason that any of you are here right now," Usagi retorted starting to get irritated.

"Will you keep your voice down," Duo snapped. "You need to leave." Whoa, what had gotten into him? Usagi had never seen him so tense or rude.

"No. Not yet," she replied, jutting her chin out in defiance.

Duo narrowed his eyes at her. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"Nothing, just thought you'd want to know that Blake has gone off with a gentleman and has said we'd be leaving soon."

"Fuck," Duo cursed under his breath. Duo's usually cheery self was nowhere to be seen and that made Usagi slightly afraid. Maybe her whole notion of revenge was misguided? Maybe she was in over her head? Maybe not seeming to be in any danger before had dulled her sense of reality, because surely no sane woman would want to be in this kind of situation. Usagi was heavily starting to regret her plan. Maybe she should leave.

Before Usagi could say anything, Duo held up a hand to silence her. He turned slightly away from her and the crowded room and brought his hand up to his ear. Upon closer inspection it appeared as though he was listening to something intently.

"Blake is looking for you and he looks pissed," Duo related to her. "Better go see what he wants. You can't be seen with me." He didn't wait for her reply. He melted into the well dressed crowd of New York's most elite.

Usagi turned to see Blake striding towards her. And he did look pissed. Really, really pissed. What had gone wrong in the space of the five minutes she had left his side? Usagi didn't want to know and shivered inwardly.

When Blake was almost to her side she saw Jacob not too far behind him. What was that rat doing here? Wasn't only his top goons supposed to be here? Usagi wondered. She plastered a sexy smile onto her face and waited for him to reach her.

"Is something the matter?" She asked him when he was in front of her, reaching to smooth one of his lapels. His eyes were bright with anger. Crap. This couldn't be good.

"What's the matter?" he mocked, grabbing her arm a bit too forcefully. "Why don't you tell me you little slut!" He growled.

That comment garnered the attention of a few nearby, but one look from Blake and they were all hurriedly shifting their eyes away. And seeming to realize just where they were, he took her by the arm and dragged her out of the ballroom and into a little alcove hidden from the crowd.

The sleazy smirk on Jacob's face couldn't be good either. What had the little slime ball told Blake?

"I'd watch what you call me," she mimicked his severe tone. "And you better tell me what the hell you're talking about."

"Oh, you've got some nerve you, little bitch," he bit out not at all liking her pretentious attitude. "How long have you been fucking him?"

Usagi's stomach dropped. This was most definitely not good. "What?" she exclaimed in fake outrage. "For God's sake are you listening to yourself right now?! How dare you accuse me of something like that!"

"Cut the act, I've seen the pictures," he told her and she read the murder in his eyes.

How the hell was she supposed to deny pictures? She gulped. "It's not what you think," she told him trying to get free of his hold. Thinking fast she said as helplessly as she could while trying to force tears to her eyes, "He forced me! I didn't want him to."

Was that a hint of doubt in Blake's eyes? "He said if I didn't he would tell you I was sleeping around behind you back," she sobbed and dropped to ground, hiding her face in her hands. "I didn't want to. I didn't want to! I didn't want to!" she sobbed over and over until finally she heard him sigh and stooped next to her.

"Are you telling me truth?" he asked her with a deadly glint in his eyes.

She looked him in eyes. "Why would I when I know what you're capable of?"

She had to be a really good actress of Blake was really desperately in love with her because he seemed satisfied with her answer.

"Jacob," he barked to the other man. "Find Yuy and bring him here. NOW!"

"But Boss—"

"Just fucking do it!" Blake ordered.

God, what had she done? Things were not going according to plan. Now she was probably getting in Heero's way. And wasn't this exactly what he had warned her about? What Duo had just accused her of? Of messing things up?

"Shh," Blake tried to comfort her taking her hands. "I'm going to kill that fucking bastard!"

Usagi hiccupped. Her tears were pretty real now. Heero would probably now get killed along with everyone in that room and she would be the cause of all of it.

"Please, Blake," she begged. "Not now. We're at a party. You said that tonight was important. You can't do this now," she tried to reason with him.

Blake gave her a hard look. "That fucking bastard put his hands all over you," he growled. "I want to rip his fucking heart out right now."

"Oh God," she gasped. "I don't think I can look at him right now. I can't face him! I think I might faint from the sight of him," she cried. Maybe she was being a little bit over dramatic?

"Christ!" Blake swore turning around from her. "Fine. Fuck! God Damnit!"

Usagi was about to release a relieve sigh when he suddenly turned back around. "You're leaving," he told her.

Usagi nodded her head. "Okay, I'll go back to the penthouse," she told him.

"No. You can't go back there," he told her.

"What? Why not?" she asked him puzzled, wiping away her tears.

"It's not safe. I'll have one of the guys take you somewhere safe."

All Usagi could do was nod. But inside a voice in her head was screaming to run away. She was sure if she allowed herself to be taken somewhere "safe" she would never be seen or heard from again. And that meant she would never see Heero's handsome face or hear his husky voice again. She had to think of a plan to get away.

Blake glanced at the diamond encrusted gold watch on his wrist. "Shit. We're cutting this close."

"What? What's the matter?" Usagi asked, hoping he would tell her.

"Don't worry about it," he said kissing her hard on the lips. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

"Okay." When Blake had rounded the corner and was out of sight, she didn't hesitate a moment in getting the hell out of there. Speed walking to the bank of elevators she smacked the down button. A ding went off right away and she was relieved to see other party goers in the elevator as well. She smiled at the other patrons, ignoring their stares as they were probably wondering what poor sod had broken her heart for her face to be such a mess. She just ignored them and waited impatiently as the car made its way down to the lobby. She was out the hotel doors and walking south on West Street toward Battery Place before she knew it. Turning left onto Broadway, she figured she could make it to the T.J. Maxx on Wall Street before it closed. She would be too conspicuous in an evening dress taking the subway.

Barely making it before the store closed she bought a pair of jeans and blouse and changed right there in the fitting room. She'd also bought a handbag and dumped the dress and jewelry into it. Hurriedly, and all the while looking over her shoulder to see whether or not she was being followed, she made her way to the Wall Street subway station heading uptown. She'd hop on the 4 or 5 Train get off at Fulton and transfer to the A. That would take her all the way into Queens. And from there she would get in contact with Quatra. While she waited for the train, with the limited service she had she dialed Heero.

"Where the hell are you?" He hissed. And Usagi had never before felt more relieved to hear his voice, angry or otherwise.

"Heero," she breathed in relief. "I'm fine," she rushed to assure him. "I left. But Blake it looking for you. He thinks you raped me."

There was silence for a few moments. "I don't even want to know how he came to that conclusion," he told her. "Where are you now?" he bit out.

"I'm waiting for the train. I'll contact Quatra once I get into Queens," she answered him.

"Good," he told her. Then he said, voice becoming guarded as though he were with someone and choosing his words carefully, "We're about to light this place up."

He couldn't possibly mean…? "Oh God, please be careful!"

"Don't worry about—"

But before Usagi could listen to the rest of Heero's words, a piercing pain at the back of her head caused her to cry out in pain. She dropped the cell phone and fell to the ground on all fours, vision becoming dangerously fuzzy.

Heero heard her pained cry and called out to her. "Usagi! Usagi!" But she didn't answer.

Instead, a deep sinister voice came on the other end of the phone, "You want her? Come get her G-Man." Then the line went dead.

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the cliffhanger, I just couldn't resist. It might be a little while before the next chapter is up, with classes starting again and what not, but I endeavor to finish this fic as soon as possible! Don't forget to tell me what you think! =)


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